


Slytherin's Heir and the Philosopher's Stone

by CrashDevil (cjdevlin19)



Series: Slytherin's Heir series [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: AU, Gen, Harry Potter series from another student's view, non-canon characters - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-02
Updated: 2018-05-07
Packaged: 2019-05-01 07:35:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 22,414
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14515515
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cjdevlin19/pseuds/CrashDevil
Summary: Calidara Nefzen HAD to go to Hogwarts. From the moment she heard Deputy Headmistress McGonagall say the name, she knew that she belonged at the school for witchcraft and wizardry. Her parents definitely weren't expecting a witch when they adopted her and they don't have a clue about magic, but they're just happy that she's happy. But with pure-blood supremacists bogging her down about her blood status and her newfound penchant for just knowing things she shouldn't know, happy might be a bit harder to manage than she originally thought.This is the HP series with Calidara added and following her.~~~~"So, you didn't know you were a witch, then?" Harry asked."No. Just always thought I was just really lucky." Calidara laughed. "Big shock to my parents, though. More than me, I think. I'm sure, when they adopted me, they didn't think they were bringing home a witch.""Are they happy about it, though, or-""Well, Mum's a bit disappointed. Think she wanted me to be a doctor, like her, but... I mean, I could learn real magic! How could I pass that up?"





	1. Diagon Alley

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote the first draft of this in 2004 or 2005, while I was a freshman in high school. Dug it out and read it to my nephew to show him how much my writing style had changed in a decade, decided I liked it and wanted to rewrite it. I liked it enough that I wanted to post it, but I've never posted anything Harry Potter, so go easy on me.

Calidara Nefzen knew she was adopted. Her parents had never hidden it from her. They were all too happy to tell her about the day they found her, all bundled in a thick black cloak, on the back step of the hospital where they both worked. After months of looking for the girl's parents, the police and Children's Services allowed Doctor and Mr. Nefzen to adopt her. So, when the tall black-haired woman showed up to inform her and her parents that she had been accepted into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, none of them were expecting it.

In fact, they were beyond shocked that witchcraft existed. Deputy Headmistress McGonagall made them realize that she'd been using magic for years. They could point to several magical happenings where she used to think she'd just been lucky. Edward and Jemma Nefzen didn't want her to go to a school for witchcraft. They wanted her to go to a posh private school and were planning a trip to get her school uniforms.

She begged to go. She pulled her parents out of the living room and begged to go. Down on her knees, tears in her eyes, begged. She never heard of the school before the woman knocked on the door, thought magic was completely fabricated until she read the letter McGonagall handed her, and yet, something in her said she had to go to  _that_  school. Not the posh one with the awards for their Science and Maths scores, Hogwarts. Her parents relented when she promised that she'd come home immediately and go to the other school if Hogwarts wasn't everything advertised.

McGonagall told her to go to Charing Cross Road, to a place called 'The Leaky Cauldron', but the rest of the conversation happened between her parents and the old Scottish witch. She was excited, though, and the next day she took all of her money saved up from her birthdays and Christmases, and walked the half an hour to Charing Cross Station. But she didn't know how to find The Leaky Cauldron. She didn't know how to find where she'd buy her supplies. She didn't see any signs that said 'Buy your witchcraft supplies here!'. What she  _did_  see was a gigantic man with a bushy beard and a small brown-haired boy walking up a broken escalator. The boy was pouring over a list just like the one in her back pocket.

"Excuse me!" She shouted, running after them. She was breathing heavy by the time she got to the top of the escalator and stopped in front of them. "Sorry, but... do you know where I might find supplies for Hogwarts School?" She left off the rest of the name just in case they weren't looking for the same thing.

"Oh?" The man bent down to examine her. "Yer in the same boat as Harry, then. Professor McGonagall woulda tol' yer parents, o'course, but a lot 'er Muggle-borns have trouble findin' the way to Diagon Alley. Thas where yule be gettin' yer supplies."

"Muggles are non-magical people." The boy provided.

"Oh. Okay."

"Well, come 'long. We'll get you to Diagon Alley."

"I'm Harry." The bespectacled boy offered his hand, which she took.

"Callie. You know, you ought to get yourself some new trousers while you're shopping. Those are falling off."

"At least a new belt, right?" Harry joked, pulling his pants up as he followed the giant. "So, you walked here?"

"Yeah. I only live, like, 2 miles away."

"Yer parents let you walk alone?" The man called over his shoulder.

"Well, they don't exactly  _know_ , but..."

"Well, it's a good thing you saw Hagrid, then." Harry said, flashing a smile.

"Well, how could I miss him?" She laughed. "But, actually, it was  _you_  I noticed first. You had the supplies list. Same as mine." She pulled the neatly-folded list out of her pocket and unfolded it. "I am glad I found you, though. Would've been walking Charing Cross forever looking for someplace magical."

"So, you didn't know you were a witch, then?" Harry asked.

"No. Just always thought I was just really lucky." Calidara laughed. "Big shock to my parents, though. More than me, I think. I'm sure, when they adopted me, they didn't think they were bringing home a witch."

"Are they happy about it, though, or-"

"Well, Mum's a bit disappointed. Think she wanted me to be a doctor, like her, but... I mean, I could learn  _real_  magic! How could I pass that up?" She refolded her supply list and shoved it back into her pocket. "What about you, Harry? Did your parents flip?"

"I'm an orphan. My aunt and uncle didn't like it, much, though."

"The great dumb Dursleys tried to keep 'im from even gettin' his letter. To think, Harry Potter wasting away at some Muggle school."

Harry blushed a bit, looking down at his feet. "Apparently, my parents were a witch and a wizard, and my aunt and uncle never told me."

"Well, at least you know now, right? Probably never know whether my parents were magic, myself."

"Guess you're right. Though, I don't know much else about them. The Dursleys didn't like talking about them."

"Well, here we are! The Leaky Cauldron." Hagrid announced, stepping to open a door to an old antiques shop. The children followed him in, and Hagrid pointed Callie to an old woman in the corner, who smiled brightly. "She'll help guide you. It's 'er job to set Muggle-borns on the right path."

"Thank you!" She waved at the boy and giant man and ran to the corner, excitedly.

"You need help with yer supplies fer Hogwarts, dearie?"

"Yes, ma'am!"

"Well, come on now, dearie. Let's go to Gringott's first, then." The plump woman moved gracefully out the back of the bar and stepped to a stone wall. She tapped several of the stones with her wand and Callie watched, amazed, as the wall opened up to expose a vibrant, busy street full of people in cloaks and robes, shopping in the many stores that lined the way. "So, where are yer parents, lass?"

"They're at work, but I've got money. Been saving every pound since I was 5. Never knew what I was saving for, but now I do."

"Well, maybe someone's got a touch of the precognition. So, we'll go to Gringott's, that's our bank. We'll exchange yer Muggle money fer Galleons, then we'll get you yer robes."

The woman left after getting the money exchanged, pointing her toward the robe shop and saying she'd return once she'd finished her fitting. As she was walking into the shop, a boy her age (obviously a first year, too) was walking out. Like Callie, the boy had blond hair so light that it was almost white, but his eyes were a light blue, almost grey, where hers were dark brown. The boy appraised her with disgust as he passed, and stuck his foot out, tripping her. "Ha! Stupid mudbloods don't even know how to walk."

She glared at him and the back of his stupid blond head, as she pulled herself up and brushed her knees off. She didn't have to ask what 'mudblood' meant. The way he said it, and the obvious negative reference to her blood being dirty, it  _had_  to be a pejorative word for Muggle-born witches.

It must've been her style of dress or maybe the way she'd looked in awe of all things on Diagon Alley that tipped him to her status, so she wore her new cloak over her clothes and kept her enthusiasm down as she bought her books and other supplies.

"Are you all right?" Harry asked, walking up to her with an armful of books.

"Yeah. Why?"

"You just- before you left The Leaky Cauldron, you looked so excited and you don't, now."

"Oh, well, I got called a nasty name by someone who's clearly known magic and money his whole life, so... brought my enthusiasm down a bit. What about you?" She gestured to the books. "You look like you're almost done."

"Yeah. Just need a wand. Hagrid said-"

"Ollivander's. Mrs. McGuffey said the same."

"Where  _is_  she? Thought she was supposed to be helping you."

"I think she might have a wee bit of a drinking problem. She keeps leaving me in the shops to 'pop back to The Leaky Cauldron fer a pint'."

"Wow. Well, Hagrid pointed down here for Mr. Ollivander's." Harry gestured with his head.

"Hello, dear girl. Garrick Ollivander. You are?" The old man asked, taking her hand as she walked in and set her items down.

"Calidara Nefzen, sir."

"Ah. The name does not help. A new witch, Muggle-born, anything could happen. Let us try... English Oak, 9 Inches, with a unicorn hair core." That didn't work, so Ollivander moved on to a 'Pear, 11 inch, Dragon heartstring', which didn't work, either. She went through 5 more before Ollivander handed her a rigid Larch wood wand, 12 3/4 inches, with a phoenix feather core. It warmed in her hand and she smiled. "That's the one, then!"

Callie loved the wand, immediately. It was long and light-colored wood and it felt like it belonged with her. She couldn't bear to put it down as she paid for it. She smiled at Harry as he stepped up to the counter for his turn. "I suppose I'll see you at school in September, then." Harry nodded, excitedly, as she walked away.


	2. Hogwarts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Calidara usually thinks things through, but sometimes rational thought leaves her.

Her parents were upset to see she'd gone to Diagon Alley without them, but her enthusiasm for the wand, and her books, and her warm new cloak were contagious and they let it go, easily. The month of August flew by in a haze of Callie reading every Hogwarts book she had bought. She didn't understand some things, but she read and retained as much as she could before her parents took her to the train station and she ran, full force at the dividing wall between platform 9 and platform 10. Mrs. McGuffey hadn't helped much, but she  _had_ explained the train situation.

Callie took the first available seat, across from two dark-haired witches who smiled at her but didn't try to include her in their conversation. They were Third-year students and, based upon their blue-lined robes, students of Ravenclaw House. They spent most of the train ride gossiping about their summers. Both were pure-blood, but neither seemed to put much emphasis on that fact. They changed into their robes and left the cabin, giggling about a Gryffindor boy they thought was so cute. She changed into her Hogwarts robes and settled back to read one of the Science books her mother had insisted she take.

She heard a voice down the train. It was the same obnoxious voice that belonged to the blond boy who tripped her. He was laughing at something and the sound of it made Callie want to shrivel in her seat. She focused on the book and trying to bring as little attention to herself as possible. A while later, a girl with slight buck teeth and kinky brown hair opened the door to her cabin. A small boy was standing behind her. "Excuse me, but have you seen a toad, because Neville here, lost his?" 

"No. I haven't." Callie responded, shortly. "Now, can you shut the door, please?"

The brunette girl's mouth hung open. "That isn't very nice."

Callie sighed, setting the book next to her and standing. "I'm sorry, but I don't want certain pure-bloods out  _there_  to notice this Muggle-born in  _here_. Now, my name is Calidara Nefzen.  _He_  is obviously Neville. Who are you?" She asked, wanting to get proper introductions out of the way so that they would continue looking for the toad.

"Hermione Granger." The girl answered.

"Good. Now, I'm sure I'll see you at Hogwarts, maybe we'll have some classes together. Now, don't you have a toad to find?" She said, sitting back down and picking up her book.

They filed off the train and all of the first years were rounded up and taken to the entrance beside the Great Hall. As they stood around, she heard people asking, 'What house do you want?' and 'What house do you think you'll get'. Someone turned to her and asked her the question, but Callie just glared. She didn't much care what house she got, she just wanted people to stop looking at her, at all. 

"I bet you get put in Slytherin."

The blond boy laughed and walked over. "Her? A Slytherin? She's a mudblood. The Sorting Hat never put anybody who wasn't pure in Slytherin. That's stuff for Gryffindor and Hufflepuff." He said, mockingly.

Calidara sighed and turned to him. She hadn't wanted him to see her, to look at her, to interact with her, but now... something about standing in the Great Hall entrance to a magic castle... she knew she belonged there and that brought her a rush of courage. "I don't know who you are, or how old your family is, but I've read all about magic and I know that some of the strongest witches and wizards have been Muggle-borns and I know that some of the oldest wizarding families in the world have produced squibs, so..."

"You're only saying that because your family is a bunch of Muggles."

"I don't know that." She shrugged. "You don't know that. No one knows who my parents were, so you can't know what my blood is. Not that it matters because magic isn't in the blood."

"Name one mudblood who was a better witch or wizard than my father, who happens to be Lucius Malfoy." He challenged, like she should know who that is. She didn't, and he smiled proudly as she looked down, having no answer for him.

Until she  _did_  have an answer. Suddenly, she knew what to say. "Lily Potter. Much better than you father, since she was able to resist the Dark Lord and your father never did." Everyone around her gasped at the mention of the dark wizard.

The Malfoy boy scoffed, angrily. "She's dead!"

"Some of the greatest witches and wizards are!" Callie argued. "You can't cheat death forever, Malfoy! No matter how much money you've got or how old your family is, you'll pass some day! You'd know that if you weren't a sheltered mess of a child. If you lived in the Muggle world or in the time of You-Know-Who's rule here, you would know about death." She leaned forward, slightly. "Though, your father might have had a deal with him, people like him never keep their alliances. They have no loyalty."

He looked shocked. "My father was under the Imperius Curse!" He exclaimed as McGonagall walked over and retrieved them.

"Of course, he was." She said, walking away with the rest of the first years.

Callie watched as everyone let the Sorting Hat slip over their eyes. She watched Draco Malfoy slip the hat off and walk to the Slytherin table as she wondered where her courage from earlier had come from. She didn't even know anything about Lily Potter until she had looked down, searching for an answer. Knowledge had flooded into her head along with the courage to use it. 'Megfarb, Lisa' pulled the hat off after a shout of 'Ravenclaw' from the hat. Then, 'Nefzen, Calidara' was called and she walked up to sit on the stool. The hat slid over her eyes and after a few minutes (it seemed like forever) she heard, "Oh, the hard ones I get. I sense power... and greatness. A desire to prove yourself. A desire to better yourself and the world around you. A big sense of vengeance. Could do well in Gryffindor. Could do great things in Slytherin. Where to put you?"

_Slytherin. Please. Slytherin._ She thought.

"Really? I was thinking  _SLYTHERIN_ myself!" The hat shouted. She pulled the hat off and walked triumphantly toward the Slytherin table as the room erupted in 'Muggle-born' and 'Slytherin doesn't-'. She stopped in front of Harry on the way to her house table, smirking, happily. She recognized a lot of her attributes in Harry.

"You should ask the hat for one of the other houses, Harry. It's gonna wanna put you in Slytherin." She offered.

"Is she mad? You can't  _ask_ the Hat for a house." A skinny redhead boy with freckles exclaimed. 

"She's actually real smart." Harry responded, following her with his eyes as she sat at the end of the Slytherin table.

No one talked to her throughout the feast. The Slytherins were more than a little upset that a Muggle was sorted into their house. She heard them grumbling angrily throughout the meal but she was okay with that. She'd asked for Slytherin knowing that she'd receive that sort of treatment... for the next 7 years of her life. Okay, so she hadn't thought it through, but she wasn't going to try to change it, now. She wasn't all that certain she  _could._

Callie kept sending looks to the High Table where the teachers sat. There was a long nosed man with greasy black hair wearing black robes and she was sure that he was Snape, the teacher the other Slytherins kept saying would 'do something' about her. As she sang her version of the Hogwarts school song, the professor turned to Headmaster Dumbledore and said something, gesturing slightly at Callie. She kept singing her slow, sad song, though, finishing a few moments before the orange-haired Gryffindor boys with their funeral dirge. As the prefects began to gather up the new students, Professor Snape came down the steps toward her, his robes fanning out behind him to make him look like a great big bat. He stopped one of the girl prefects, who nodded and stepped to the side to wait as Snape stepped in front of Callie and looked down at her. "Calidara Nefzen, was it?"

"Yes, sir?"

"I'm Professor Snape, the Head of Slytherin House. Your housemates, they aren't very happy about your sorting."

"Well, it's not for them to be happy about, is it? The Hat knows, doesn't it? That was the point of its song."

The man nodded. "Know that I'll be keeping an eye on you, Miss Nefzen."

"Right. That  _is_  your job." She smirked as Snape waved the prefect over. 

The prefect didn't talk to her as she guided them down to the dungeons, to a damp wall. "Viper." The prefect said to the wall, which opened up much like the wall at Diagon Alley had, and they walked into a room with green lanterns hanging from the rough stone ceiling. The prefect grunted at her and pointed to a bed in the girl's dorm, but still didn't speak. 


	3. Darkness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Potions class and a revelation from Dumbledore.

In fact, no one spoke to her again until Double Potions with the Gryffindor first years. She walked from the Slytherin common room to the Potions classroom, a simple dungeon to dungeon walk, and sat as close to the Gryffindor side of the classroom as she could, which just so happened to be the table next to Harry's. Harry looked over, setting his quill on the table and turning to her. "How did you know the Sorting Hat would want to put me in Slytherin?" He whispered.

She looked over and shrugged. "Because it wanted me to be in Gryffindor."

"What does that mean?"

"We've a lot in common, don't we? I just... I just knew that we have a lot of the same attributes, Harry. Since I've been here, since we got to Hogwarts, I've just known things and that was one of them. We could go either way. I think... we both could've been true hatstalls if we hadn't asked the Hat for our houses."

"Hatstall?"

"When it takes the hat more than 5 minutes, that's a hatstall. Haven't you read 'Hogwarts: A History'?" Harry shook his head and Callie rolled her eyes. "Oh, here comes Professor Snape. I hear he's really mean. I'm glad he favors my house." 

Professor Snape took an opportunity to humiliate Harry like it was a gift served up for his cold heart on a silver platter and Harry tried to deflect, so Snape ended the tirade with "And a point will be taken from Gryffindor for your cheek, Potter." so Callie stood. "That isn't fair! You purposely humiliated him and you expect him not to say anything? I'm surprised he didn't say anything worse!"

Snape snapped his attention to her, his greasy hair swaying as he turned, an intolerable coldness in his eyes as he glared at her. "A point with be taken from Slytherin for your outburst. Do not  _ever_  make me take points from my own house again, Miss Nefzen." He spat, turning his attention back to his desk. She sat down and looked over at Harry, who was staring at her in disbelief. The boy definitely wasn't used to people standing up for him. She flashed him a smile and winked.

The first years started working on their first potions and it wasn't very long until Neville made a... mistake. The cauldron had become a mass of twisted metal and the acid potion was all over the floor. Everyone stood on their stools as Snape sent Neville to the hospital wing. "You! Potter, why didn't you tell him not to add the quills? Thought he'd make you look good if he got it wrong, did you? That's another point lost for Gryffindor." Snape said.

Calidara threw her hands in the air. "Are you daft? The boy is obviously stupid. If you're going to go around blaming people who aren't at fault, blame Arsenius Jigger for writing the damn book!" She yelled. 

Snape didn't even turn around as he said, "Another point lost for Slytherin. You may want to learn how to control your mouth, Miss Nefzen, or your entire house will end up hating you." He walked toward his desk.

"Then, I have no problem. They already  _do_." She smirked as she sat down, legs crossed.

After Potions, she walked up the stairs out of the dungeon, alone but for a brief 'Hi' from Hermione. Ron Weasley had pulled Harry away as soon as Callie moved to talk to him after class, so she'd continued on her own. She was walking past an empty classroom when she was pulled inside. She looked up to see Draco and his friends Crabbe and Goyle. "What's  _wrong_ with you?"

"Yeah, losing us points." Goyle agreed.

Callie pushed them away from her and rolled her eyes. "It's about what's  _right_  and what's  _wrong_ , Malfoy. You'd know the difference if you'd lived in the Muggle world, Draco. It's wrong for a teacher to take points away from a student just because the teacher doesn't like him. The right thing for me to do is even the bloody score. Which is exactly what I did. Now, I'm late for Herbology, as are you three."

"You keep saying that! I would never want to live a Muggle life."

"And the Muggle world would never want anything to do with you." She said, pulling away from the wall where they'd pushed her and walking out of the classroom.

She found refuge in the courtyard between classes. The longer she could stay out of the Slytherin common room, the longer she could have peace. As she sat reading one of her Science books, the redheaded twins from Gryffindor plopped down in the grass on either side of her. "We heard the Sorting Hat wanted to put you in Gryffindor." One started.

"But you  _asked_  it to put you in Slytherin. Why in the world would you do that?" The other finished.

She sniffed and cleared her throat. "Just because I knew that it would absolutely  _kill_  Draco Malfoy for a Muggle-born witch to be placed in his perfect, pure snake house."

"So, you ruined your life, for the next 7 years, just to take the piss out of Malfoy?"

She nodded. "Yeah. Him and all the other pure-blood supremacists in my house."

They looked across her at each other, before smiling. "We're impressed." They said, in unison. 

"I'm Fred. He's George. Don't feel bad if you mix us up, even our own mother does, sometimes."

"Well, we don't exactly make it easy for her to tell the difference, mind."

"We're fans of chaos, you know. Mischief and misconduct are kinda our thing."

"Anyway, you look like you need some friends. You kinda burned the ones in your house for that epic prank."

"We're more than willing to fill in."

"Anyway. We'll see you around." They said, together, before jumping up and heading away toward the castle.

~~

As she walked through the halls after Transfiguration, heading for the library (another of her refuges), she heard her name called behind her. She turned to see the tall, silvery figure of Headmaster Dumbledore waving at her. "Miss Nefzen, I need to speak with you. Please, follow me to my office." He turned and walked away and she followed him to a statue, where he said, 'Toffee Taffy Pull'. The statue moved out of the way and a staircase appeared. She followed him up to his office and sat in the chair waiting on the other side of his desk. "Miss Nefzen, are you aware that your parents, Jemma and Edward, adopted you?"

She nodded. "Yes, sir. I... They found me at their hospital." 

"Have you ever wondered about your birth parents?"

"Of course. Any... any orphan does. I mean, I don't know anything about them."

"You do, though, don't you?" Dumbledore looked at her over his crescent-shaped glasses. "You know more than you think... since you've arrived at Hogwarts."

"Yes, sir, Headmaster. I  _have_  been knowing-"

"It's a bit of your mother's magic, I think."

"My mother?" Callie swallowed and sat forward. "You know who my mother was."

"Of course, we had to double check the Book of Admittance to make sure. Your name was in twice. Once as 'Calidara Nefzen', put down when you were 2 years old. You dropped an ice cream and brought it back to your hand." Dumbledore sat in his chair and looked at her. "Pages before that, crossed out with an indication for the new entry, you were in as your original name, 'Melanie Malfoy'." 

Callie's eyes widened. "Pardon?"

"Yes. 'Malfoy'."

"I... I can't be-" Dumbledore gave a look that told her not to argue. "How? What happened to-"

"How much do you know about Voldemort?"

"Uh... I know that he rose to power before I was born, that he was defeated by our very own Harry Potter shortly  _after_ I was born, that he had a bunch of followers and most of them came from my own house... he was a staunch believer in that pure-blood nonsense... he was evil."

"You are very right. Your mother was one who defied him."

"Really?" She felt a bit of pride at learning that.

"Oh, yes. Your mother... she was a good woman, a brave and cunning Slytherin with a strong proficiency in Charms. She prided herself on her strong moral code. Unfortunately, her brother didn't seem to have the same code, or indeed any beyond his devotion to the Dark Lord. He put her under the Imperius Curse, controlled her and made her into a Death Eater." Callie gasped. "This is all just conjecture and allegation, of course. Her brother claimed he was under the same curse he used on her."

"My mother was Lucius Malfoy's sister?" She took an intuitive leap.

Dumbledore nodded. "Miranda Malfoy. She was a beautiful, powerful woman... and Voldemort wanted her. Lucius was all too happy to hand her over to him. It was several months before she was able to pull herself out of the Imperius Curse, but by then... she was already pregnant with you."

"Wait. But... then... my father is... Voldemort." 

"Yes." The Headmaster looked over at her with pity in his eyes. "I'm sorry to be the one to tell you, Calidara."

Calidara sniffled, looking down and trying not to cry. "You know, I've always wondered why my parents gave me up. It's  _the_  question for any abandoned child." She lost the battle with her tears as she looked up into the old man's kind eyes. "I think I was better off not knowing. That my mother... that Voldemort... hurt her like that. No wonder she left me."

"I understand, my dear child. What happened to your mother was terrible, but she saw  _you_  as the one bright spot in the ordeal." Callie's eyes widened in surprise as she wiped away her tears. "Yes. Despite the circumstances of your creation, Miranda loved you deeply. She hid you away from your father and uncle for months, but when Harry defeated Voldemort, she knew she wouldn't be able to keep you secret anymore. There were inquiries and trials and she knew that the world would find out about you, about who your father was, and if you grew up knowing that, being treated with fear, contempt, pity... well, she feared it would color your view of our world."

"That's why she gave me up?"

Dumbledore leaned forward. "She came to me, asked what we had done with Harry, but Miranda had no Muggle family to give you to, so she had to leave you for two caring Muggles to stumble across."

"And her? After the inquiries, what happened to her?"

"She was sent to Azkaban Prison... for attacking her brother in the middle of his testimony. She used the Cruciatus Curse on him as he told the story of how he'd been controlled to do the things he did. Cruciatus is one of the Unforgivable Curses, and there was an entire courtroom full of witnesses."

"That's not fair! He tortured her! He stole her mind and they sent  _her_  away?!"

"Life, you'll find, is seldom fair, Callie, but know that she went to Azkaban knowing she'd ensured your safety and happiness and so long as no one knows your true heritage, that can continue."

"Who would I tell?  _Why_  would I tell?" She shook her head, standing. "My father's a dead super-villain and my mother is in prison for taking momentary revenge on her evil brother. At least I know I belong in Slytherin." 

The old man sighed. "Your past does not have to dictate your future, Miss Nefzen. Your footsteps need not follow your mother's  _or_ your father's."

"Evil and dead, or good and imprisoned. One would hope those weren't the only two paths before me." She said, before descending the stairs. 

She headed straight for the Slytherin Common Room. She was hoping to get to her bed in the dormitory without too much trouble. She wanted to go to sleep and wake in the morning so she could pretend it was just a stupid nightmare. Professor Snape was leaving the Common Room as she arrived. "Miss Malfoy." He greeted in a low tone, a small smirk turning up the corner of his mouth.

She swallowed.  _Of course my Head of House knows. That doesn't mean anyone else knows._ She thought, rushing past him. Draco was sitting on a table that had been pushed to block the hallway to the girls' dorm, twirling his wand between his fingers as Crabbe and Goyle stood on either side of him.

"My aunt went crazy after my cousin was born, driven mad by her very existence." 

Calidara cursed in her mind, but she didn't look at him, determined not to take the bait. "That's interesting."

"She tried to kill my father, got sent to Azkaban for it. My father told me  _all_  about it."

"I'm sure he did. Can you move?"

"He said he petitioned for her to be sent to St. Mungo's, instead. It wasn't  _her_  fault, after all. It was the baby that drove her to it." Callie swallowed her anger down and moved to push the table out of the way. Draco jumped off of the table and got in her face, trying to intimidate her with his slight height advantage. "Father said Aunt Miranda probably killed the girl when she went mental, that she probably couldn't handle the fact that the baby was made when she spread her legs for the Dark Lord. I guess he was wrong, though, wasn't he? She dropped it in some Muggle orphanage, instead."

"She dropped me in a hospital, you idiot!" Callie yelled as she pushed him away from her. Crabbe stepped forward to keep Draco from falling over. 

"You are! You're You-Know-Who's daughter." Draco breathed out, amusement coloring his words. "I thought Snape was havin' me on for a minute, but... it's true."

"It doesn't matter. None of that matters."

"It doesn't matter that your father was He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named?" Goyle asked.

"And that your mum went nuts on Draco's dad and got taken to Azkaban?" Crabbe asked.

"No. None of it matters. My parents are Muggles. My mum and dad are Muggles and that's..." She shook her head. "You can hate me for whichever thing you want, Malfoy." She said, giving the table a firm push and squeezing past it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Reminder that I came up with this character at least fourteen years ago, way before Cursed Child came out. I'm not saying that I thought of Voldemort having a daughter with one of his followers before JK did, I'm just saying that I thought of it before I knew she thought of it. Also, Callie is way different than Delphini, so...


	4. Cognita/Darkness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Callie gets herself in deep darkness.

She couldn't sleep. She tried, but she couldn't. Between the thoughts in her head and the girls whispering around her, there was no way. "Is it worse to be a filthy mudblood, or You-Know-Who's daughter?" One asked, with a giggle.

"My father was there when she tried to kill Draco's father. He said she looked absolutely crazed."

"My uncle on my mother's side is part of the Azkaban Security Officials and Very Important Wizards and he said that Miranda Malfoy attacks the other Death Eaters whenever she has the will to do so, but  _they_ still treat her like a queen. Because You-Know-Who  _told_ them to."

"I heard Miranda Malfoy was pretty much You-Know-Who's love slave for months! Can you imagine? Knowing that's where you came from?"

"No wonder her mum threw her away to the rubbish Muggles!"

Callie was exhausted as she entered Double Potions Friday morning. She was one of the first students to arrive, behind only Hermione and Pansy Parkinson. She dropped her books and stomped up to Snape's desk. "You told Draco who my parents are." It was an accusation, not a question.

"Ah. Miss Malfoy." He looked up from the scroll he was writing and gave a small smirk. "How are you-"

"Don't call me that. My name is 'Nefzen'. I don't care who my parents were. My Mum and Dad are the ones who saved me from dying on the street, not the ones I've never met!"

"Calm down, Miss Malfoy. Your classmates are bound to be on edge around you. You wouldn't want to give them more reason to think you unstable, would you?"

"Whose fault is it that they're going to be on edge?! You had no right to-"

"I had every right to ensure the safety of my students." He said, suddenly very serious. "Your father was quite evil and your mother was driven mad quite easily. If either is a heritable trait, your fellow students ought to be wary."

"Dumbledore didn't tell you about my parents so that your could spread it around the castle like a fungus!"

"Be more cautious with your tone, Miss Malfoy. You wouldn't want your classmates to think you've lost your mind." Snape warned as other students began to funnel into the dungeon. She stomped over and dropped herself into the stool.

Everyone was staring at her. Not just the Slytherins, but the Gryffindors, too. The truth had traveled the school, already. Harry kept looking over at her, like he wasn't sure whether he should be afraid of her, or not. Throughout Snape's lecture, no one paid attention. They were much too busy whispering about 'You-Know-Who's daughter'. Snape would normally have taken a point from Gryffindor for the noise, but he seemed to be genuinely enjoying the discord.

Something snapped in her as the class came to the beginning of the second hour. "Stop staring at me! Stop whispering behind my back! None of you know me. None of you cared a thing about me until you heard who my parents are! My blood is not my future or my personality." Harry opened his mouth to argue, but Ron grabbed his shoulder and whispered in his ear. Callie sighed, deeply. "My mother, Miranda, lost her mind, yes. But wouldn't you? Locked her own mind by someone she should have been able to trust, her own  _family_. Lucius should count himself lucky she didn't use the Killing Curse against him." 

She shook her head. "My father was evil. I only exist because he perpetrated evilness upon my mother. But that's not my fault. Nothing he did, or she did, is my fault. So stop whispering about it like I can't hear you, because I  _can_! Continue to shun me, I don't care, but at least have the courtesy to do it in the bloody Common Rooms!" She shouted, before sitting down to bury her face in her arms. Snape gave her a look before continuing his lecture.

"They're just scared, is all." Hermione rushed up next to Callie as she stomped out of the dungeons toward the castle courtyard. Callie turned to her, fury at the whole situation rising up in her. Hermione swallowed, nervously. "I'm not scared, though. I-I've read several psychology books and most top psychologists believe that Nurture- the way you were raised, that is- is much more important to your personality than Nature- your blood."

Callie frowned and glared at the Gryffindor. "And the American twins who were adopted into separate families as infants and grew up thousands of miles away from each other in completely different environments, who ended up in the same job, with the same hobbies and wives with the same names who were of similar appearance? That's not a clear argument for Nature?"

Hermione seemed surprised Callie knew anything of psychology. "I-I don't-" She cleared her throat. "I still believe-"

"You're a smart girl, Granger." Callie interrupted. "Well-versed in subject that confuse even grown Muggles. You think, 'Offer her a hand, give her a friend, maybe that'll be enough to stem the tide of her evil nature'. In the very least, you're hoping I won't kill my friends when I snap, so you thought you'd try for-"

"Callie, that's absurd! You're not going to-"

"When I  _do_  snap, I'll take you first, how 'bout that?!" Calidara pushed the brunette out of the way as she started up the stairs again.

~~

Calidara sat on her bed, a Charms book from the library in her lap. She'd found it, the Charm her mother must've placed on her before she dropped her off at the hospital.  _'Cognita: a charm used to pass personal knowledge from one person to another. Bouts of information come when the receiver asks or when they complete a predetermined task.'_  

"Maybe I can access all of it." She whispered, raising her wand. She fell back, passing out as her charm hit her, full-force.

_**"My dear, sweet Melanie. How could I possibly explain everything to you? You've lived your life without me, and I hope you've had a good one. The Nefzens are good people. I watched them for weeks before I left you with them. They're the best sort of Muggles. Healers. I know they've treated you well. They love you and maybe that'll be good enough. You have to understand, my girl, that as much as I hated it, I had to leave you with the Muggles. If you were raised in the wizarding world, the worst people would insert themselves into your life, especially with me gone. People who would influence you to be like your father and I couldn't let that happen.** _

_**By now, you're at Hogwarts and the Headmaster has probably figured out who you are. I wish I was there experiencing your first year with you, but I'm probably dead, or worse, in Azkaban. If you have any trouble, Melanie, Dumbledore will help you. Whatever you do, do not ask help of Lucius. Never meet him. He is a puppet and he will use you to-"** _

Her mother's voice faded and a dark feeling flooded Calidara.  _ **"My... child."**_ She tried to open her eyes, to move away from the dark feeling, but she couldn't, stuck in the place where her meddling with her mother's charm put her.  _ **"You are everything I wanted you to be. So smart and full of potential. Full of untapped power. My child."**_ She tried, again, to open her eyes to no avail.  _ **"I've waited many years meet you. You've been kept away from me for too long."**_

_I don't- I can't-_

**_"Come to me and I will show you the true power of Lord Voldemort!"_** A terrible shock went through her body, making her whimper, but she wasn't able to scream. The shock went away, slowly, but the dark feeling stayed, even when she woke the next morning. Her limbs felt heavy and her head hurt, but she couldn't lie in bed, any longer. She picked up her Arithmetic book and headed out to the courtyard.

"We heard you're evil." Fred and George said, standing over her. She sat up to examine them. They were wearing different robes than normal.

"And we've been told to stay away from you." George continued.

"Of course, that means we  _have_  to make sure everyone sees us being friendly." 

"What are you wearing?" She asked, closing her book.

"Quidditch uniforms." The twins said, together. "We're Beaters."

"Um... what's Quidditch?"

"'What's Quidditch?' Only the best sport in history." Fred said.

"I don't know about that. Football is pretty awesome. The Three Lions have been around for freaking ever." 

The twins scoffed, derisively. "Football."

"Quidditch is like football-" Fred started.

"-and basketball-"

"- _and_  baseball  _and_ it's played on broomsticks."

Callie chuckled. "Well, that does sound a bit epic." 

"Oh, 'epic' isn't epic enough. It's a bloody brilliant game." George said, smiling. "We've got practice in 20 minutes. We could sneak you into the pitch, if you want."

"Well, I'm a Slytherin and supposedly super evil, you sure you wanna risk it?"

"Risk it? It was our idea." The third year boys both reached a hand out and helped her stand.

"You boys are so nice to me. It's not just so that you don't get killed when I go nuts, is it?"

"Is that what the others are doing now?" Fred asked.

"Copycats." The twins chorused.

"We thought of it  _days_  ago, back when you were just the Muggle-born Slytherin girl."

Callie chuckled. The Weasley twins were great and somehow managed to pick her up from her dark mood. "Well, I'll be sure to let Hermione know you've a copy-write on it."

"Good." They responded.

"Now, Quidditch can be a bit hard to follow if you've never watched before. There's a lot happening, all at once." Fred started.

"Never a dull moment in Quidditch."

"So, just keep your pretty brown eyes on us. Always fun watching the Beaters." They each put an arm around her and headed away from the castle.

She watched the practice from an otherwise empty set of bleachers. She wondered, momentarily, why her mother hadn't passed down knowledge of this amazing sport to her, but lost that thought as Fred flew past her as fast as he could and did a flip. "Christ, that was cool!" She whispered, excitedly. After the practice, the twins walked up to her, helmets in hand. "That was the most brilliant thing I've ever seen! Your flying skills, the coordination you all have, the  _danger_... proper danger, too, not like the footballers who pretend to be hurt to get a foul. Does gettin' hurt even slow down a game of Quidditch?"

"We knew you'd like it." Fred said, smirking.

"There aren't very many wizards who don't."

"Are you hungry, George?" Fred started walking them toward the castle.

"Famished. What about you, Callie?" George answered.

"I could eat. Kinda skipped breakfast to avoid the crowds."

"And the stares." George continued.

"And whispers." Fred laughed.

"I wonder how much trouble there'd be if we sat her with us." George pondered.

"More than necessary." Callie answered. "We could just grab food and eat somewhere other than the Great Hall. I mean, it's gorgeous out here." She indicated to the courtyard as they approached. 

"Yeah, but we can't get mail out here." George answered.

"And we're expecting a package." 

"That's fine. I'll just grab food and-"

"We can all come out here after the post comes." The twins said. Callie nodded, following them.

Callie sat at the end of Slytherin's table, neatly tucking sandwich supplies into a napkin so that she could take them into the courtyard. The owls flew through the Great Hall, dropping their bundles and letters at their destinations. The twins tore open their box, an assortment of baked goods, which they started shoving into their mouths.

Draco, several seats down from Calidara, pulled open a letter. His face went from pale to white as he read it, then read it again. He folded it and shoved it into his pocket as Crabbe and Goyle gave him questioning looks. He looked down the table to his cousin, who was being handed a stack of biscuits by one ginger twin while the other pushed a mini tart into her mouth all while she giggled helplessly. "Come on!" He ordered as he stood and rushed out of the Great Hall.

"Guess  _someone_  didn't like their mail." Fred joked, his mouth full.

She spent the rest of the day with the twins, having a nice time despite the dark feeling still clawing at her and the looks she was still getting. When she left for her Common Room, it was the absolute last minute. When Calidara walked into the Common Room, it was surprisingly almost empty, unexpected for a Saturday night. Draco was sitting in one of the plush chairs, a book across his lap. "It wasn't your fault she went crazy. Shouldn't have said that." He said as she passed. Callie stopped, turning to him. His voice, for the first time since she met him in London, was soft and not in the least bit superior. "It was You-Know-Who that drove her mad and my father... It wasn't his fault, either, but he is the one who put the curse on her."

Draco looked up at her and cleared his throat. "I thought you might want to know about them: your mum and my dad. I mean, you don't even know what she looked like, do you?"

"She's not dead." 

"Not much difference between Azkaban and the afterlife, really. That place... it's worse than dying." Draco raised the book, slightly. "Found a yearbook. 1970. Dad was a fifth year, Prefect. Aunt Miranda was a third year." Callie took a step closer to him, stretching her neck to try to see to book better. "They were inseparable. Dad took care of her. He loved her. Couldn't bear that she went to Azkaban because of him. He really did try to get her sent to St. Mungo's, instead."

"Then, why did she get sent to Azkaban? Everyone knew why she attacked him, didn't they? If he wasn't upset about it-"

"The Unforgivable Curses are Unforgivable. There is no getting away from it, especially when there were so many witnesses. It was just a pity that she decided to send you away before she got sent away, herself. You could have grown up in Wiltshire, at the mansion with me."

"Yes. And then, I could have grown up to be a snotty, entitled, arrogant little jerk like you."

Callie saw insolent rage cross his face, but he forced it down. "You would have had a good life, wanting for nothing, like a Malfoy  _should_ have."

"I  _have_ had a good life, Draco." Callie shook her head. "And if I were here, if I'd grown up a Malfoy, everyone would have known that I was Voldemort's daughter my whole life. I would have grown up with everyone afraid of me and I would hate them all. I would think that was normal. I would be okay with it. I wouldn't want to fix it, prove that I'm more than my blood. So... it's better this way."

"Aunt Miranda was a good witch... before You-Know-Who got to her." Draco turned the book around and showed her a picture of a young blond girl smiling and waving at her. "Do you want to hear about her?" Calidara bit her lip, but nodded, taking another step forward and sitting in the chair next to him. He smiled and turned the book back around again.


	5. Family

By Monday morning, Calidara knew a lot more about her mother, her uncle and her family, as a whole and she was  _only slightly_  doubting Dumbledore's account of things. Draco's version of events (and the pictures in the yearbook of them together) painted a much different picture of her mother and Lucius. Maybe her uncle  _had_ been under the Imperius Curse when he handed her over to Voldemort. Maybe the pain drove her to insanity and paranoia. Maybe that's why she'd called him a puppet when Calidara was in that hypnotic place she'd gotten stuck in when she tried to change her charm. 

Callie tried to fight the shiver she got thinking about the stuck place with the dark feeling. Who was she kidding, though? It wasn't a dark feeling. It was Voldemort. Part of her mother's charm, maybe? A memory her mum passed down?

She was the first one in the dungeon for Potions on Monday. When Snape looked at her, he hissed and grabbed his left forearm. The darkness in her flared up at the sight, so she set her books on her table and walked over. "You were a Death Eater."

Snape looked around the classroom, his lips pressed in a line. "How do you-"

"Yes or no. Were you or weren't you a willing follower of the man who-"

"Yes." He urged, quietly, yet intently.

"Did you know about my mum?" Snape looked away. "Professor, did you know-"

"Yes." He whispered. "I knew your mother well. She was named prefect my second year. She was very fair, didn't abuse her power. She was well-loved and not just in Slytherin." He turned his dark eyes on her, a sad look to his face. "I knew she would never willingly join the Dark Lord. No matter how much her father and brother preached pure-blood supremacy, she never believed it."

"But  _you_  did."

"Miss Nefzen, you must understand-"

"Was Lucius cursed to work for him or was he willing, as well?"

"You'll never find any evidence he was anything but. Imperius leaves no mark, no sign. Your mother believed, wholly, that Lucius was acting on his own when he cursed her. What you believe is up to you."

Callie looked behind her as Hermione walked into the classroom. "What do you think? In your expert opinion, was he cursed?"

Snape glowered. "I don't know.  _If_ I knew..."

"My mother was a good woman and she's in Azkaban while you're here, teaching Potions. How'd you swing that?" She whispered.

"Another time, Miss Nefzen." He whispered back. 

Callie looked behind as Draco, Crabbe and Goyle entered the room. Draco smiled at her as he sat on the edge of her table. "It's 'Malfoy'." She said, turning and heading back to her table. She smiled, tentatively, at Draco's friends as she sat on her stool. In the Common Room the day before, she heard Draco telling them to cut back on the pure-blood stuff, at least around her, but she wasn't sure how they were going to treat her. "Hey."

"Morning." Crabbe said.

"You want a scone?" Goyle pulled a scone out of the pocket of his robes and offered it to her.

"We missed you in the Great Hall for breakfast." Draco explained.

"Oh." She hadn't eaten breakfast in the Great Hall since she arrived at the castle, avoiding as much awkwardness as possible. "I had some crumpets left over from yesterday's tea, so I just had those while I was getting ready this morning."

"You have to stop hiding from the Slytherin table, Callie." Draco said, smirking as he jumped off of the table and hopped onto the stool next to her. "You  _are_  one of us, you know."

"I know. But we didn't even like each other two days ago."

"But now we know we're family, so you should eat with us." 

Callie nodded, smiling. Family, real blood family, was a novel thought. Something she never thought she'd have. Harry walked into the class and stopped in his tracks, staring at Callie, Draco, Crabbe and Goyle. "Well, she turned quick, didn't she?" Ron quipped, pushing past Harry.

"Didn't they hate each other last week?" Harry whispered, taking his seat. 

"Yeah, but now she's You-Know-Who's daughter and that tickles Draco's evil little fancy." Ron answered.

"Also, you  _did_ immediately stop talking to her as soon as it was revealed that her father was You-Know-Who." Hermione spoke up from the table in front of them.

"What? No one asked you." Ron exclaimed.

Harry looked down. "She's right, though. As soon as I heard that she was Voldemort's daughter, I stopped talking to her."

"Don't say his name." Ron hissed.

"Callie's my friend, Ron. She was the first person I met who was just as lost in the wizarding world as I am." Harry looked over at Callie and the Slytherin boys that she still looked slightly uncomfortable with. "I should fix it, somehow. How do I fix it?"

"Not by sitting on your bottom, whining." Hermione offered. "She's beginning to be all right with them. Soon, she'll be just  _like_  them. A friend or two of good moral fiber might do well to keep her on the right path." 

"Well, how do you expect-" Ron started but stopped when Harry jumped up and walked over to Callie's table.

"Good morning, Callie."

"Good morning, Harry." She responded, a bit coldly.

"What do you want, Potter?" Draco snapped.

"I'm not talking to you, Draco." Harry spat before turning his attention back to the girl. "After class, can we talk? I-I just... I know that I... I mean..."

Callie smiled at the way he was stumbling over his words. "Yes, Harry. After class, we can talk. You can walk me to Herbology."

"Potter, take your seat." Snape demanded, standing. If their earlier conversation rattled him, at all, he wasn't showing it now.

Harry smiled at her and rushed back to his table. Draco rolled his eyes. "You really shouldn't be nice to him. He's got enough people falling over him." Draco whispered.

"And you don't?"

"You could have, too, you know. People fallin' at your feet."

"Because of my last name? Or the other thing?" She whispered back.

"Both. What good is having a powerful father and family name if you aren't gonna use it?" Draco's smile was almost contagious.

"Is there something you'd like to share, Malfoys?" Snape asked, suddenly.

"No, sir." Callie answered, turning straight to the front of the dungeon.

~~

Harry waited for her outside of Potions, Ron scampering away from his friend and up the stairs as soon as she walked out. She rolled her eyes as she and Harry started the climb. "So." Harry started.

"So."

"Your, um... your father was Voldemort."

"Technically, yes. And you killed him."

Harry blushed, slightly. "Well, defeated... somehow. Hagrid thinks he's still technically alive... somewhere."

Callie nodded, hugging her Potions and Herbology books to her. That thought made her nervous about the dark feeling. "I've nothing to do with him. Even as a baby, my mum made sure he never saw me."

"I know."

"I've only ever heard stories about Voldemort, and none have really inspire me to take up his mantel, you know."

"I know."

"And I've only ever seen  _pictures_  of my mum. I can only imagine what 10 years in Azkaban Prison has done to her, but maybe she's powered through."

"I'm sure she has, if she's at all like-"

"So, why'd you stop talking to me?" Calidara stopped at the top of the stairs."Why'd you let Ron pull you away?"

"Ron didn't-"

"Yes, he did. He tried to convince his brothers to stop hanging around me, too, but they had the good sense to tell him to shove it."

Harry sighed and started walking again. He couldn't be late to Transfiguration again, so there was no time to waste standing around with her. "Ron's just nervous. Honestly, I don't think he was sorted into Gryffindor based on courage. You make him nervous. You're a Slytherin. You're a Malfoy  _and_ you're a girl. Add on that you're Voldemort's daughter... he's kinda terrified of you."

"Without reason."

"I know."

"So, are you done?" Callie asked, as they stepped out of the castle. "I like being your friend, Harry, and I think it'd be brilliant if we were to stay friends. You know, 'The Boy Who Lived' and 'You-Know-Who's Daughter'." She said it in a stage whisper and followed it with a giggle.

"Yeah. I'm okay with that." He responded, with a smirk.

"All right. Go on, then. You know how McGonagall gets about tardiness."

Harry nodded and took of running in the opposite direction.

~~

"You  _feel_  like your father, now. You didn't before." Snape said, quietly, as he approached her in the library. "I don't like it."

"Neither do I." She responded, looking down as he stood over her, intimidatingly.

"How did it happen, Miss Nefzen?"

She sighed, still not looking up at him. "Mum put the Cognita charm on me when I was a baby. I... it was taking too long. I got tired of waiting. I hate being in the dark, I hate how confused I am... so I... I tried to access all of it and I got stuck."

"In an altered state of consciousness." 

She nodded. "And he found me there. I don't know how. I was listening to my mum talk in my head and then... then he found me." She looked up at him. "I know he's still alive. He's weak, he's hurt but he's alive and I know that because he... he found me and I couldn't get away and now there's this... feeling that won't go away. This dark feeling." 

"You didn't get anything, any information, from him? Where he is? How he's alive?"

"No. I just got darkness from him."

"And did he get anything from you?"

Callie shook her head. "I didn't have anything to give."

"That you know of." Snape looked around. "You and I... might need to... look into the charm Miranda placed upon you."

"Fine. While we're doing that, you can explain how you got away with-"

"Keep that to yourself, Miss Nefzen."

"Why do you do that? Why do you call me the opposite name of what I've requested?" 

Snape raised an eyebrow. "It has been suggested that I'm... mean." He leaned down next to her ear. "If I am to explain to you, very specifically to  _you,_ what happened and how I came to be in this situation, you'll need to learn how to hide your mind from the Dark Lord." Callie nodded. If she could kick Voldemort out of her head, that would be helpful. "And you must stop meddling with your mother's charms. She was an expert with charms and you are a child."

"Yes, sir."

"9:30 Thursday night, I will retrieve you from the Slytherin Common Room, be ready. We will work on Occlumency. Don't bother looking it up, I'll explain Thursday night, and then I will escort you to the Astronomy Tower at Midnight."

"Yes, sir."

"And do your best to keep this quiet, Miss... Malfoy. Our lessons must be confidential." 

"You don't think people will notice you dropping me off at Astronomy?"

"They can notice anything they want, as long as you don't tell them what we're doing. Tutoring is something I seldom engage in, but for you, I will." He straightened and adjusted his robes. "Tell them I have requested you as my teaching assistant."

"A first year?"

"A special first year, of my own House. No one would doubt it. Though we may need to spend more than just Thursday together to convince the others."

Callie nodded. "Yes, sir." Snape gave her a final look, then walked out of the library. "Brilliant. Now, I get to spend my free time being a Death Eater's TA." She whispered to herself, picking up her copy of  _'Alchemy: Principles and Propositions'_  and heading to the library counter. 


	6. Pick One

Calidara waved at the twins as she entered the Great Hall, but let herself be pulled to sit on the opposite side of the Slytherin table next to Draco. She could tell he was trying to distance her from the redheads but she didn't think it was such a big deal to let him have her attention during meals. "I don't think Snape's ever taken a Teaching Assistant before. Don't think  _anyone_  has picked a first year student for that before. How'd you manage?" Draco asked, grabbing a muffin from the platter in front of her.

She rolled her eyes. "You say that like I wanted it. Like I don't already have enough extra stuff to deal with. This is like having detention four nights a week. It's going to severely cut into my reading time."

"Bein' TA will look good on your transcripts." Marcus Flint, the fifth year Slytherin Quidditch captain offered from down the table.

"How would you know, Flint?" George called from across the Hall.

"Yeah, you barely passed your O.W.L.s last year." Fred agreed. Callie stifled a giggle by shoving a crueller in her mouth. "Sorry to hear that Snape stole your evenings, Callie. If you ever want some fun, we can get you placed in  _actual_ detention. Bound to be more fun."

Callie swallowed her crueller down with a gulp of pumpkin juice and smiled, brightly. "Well, I don't think I want  _that_  on my transcripts, either, Fred."

"I'm not Fred, he is." The ginger responded, making her laugh.

"That doesn't work on me! I can tell you apart."

"No, you can't." They argued.

"It's how you have your hair cut. George has it slightly longer in the front."

The twins turned to look at each other, confused, as Draco offered her a teacup. "So, when do you start as TA?"

She picked up the teacup. "Thursday night." She said as Harry walked in with Ron behind him. 

"Hey, Callie." Harry called out as Ron ducked his head. 

"I think Potter has a crush." Flint joked.

"Potter needs to learn his league." Draco growled, putting his arm around his cousin, who blushed slightly.

"I'm not in a different league, Draco. Just a different House... and I am far too busy to be a league." She hoped that made more sense to her housemates than it did to her.

"And you're not interested in him, right?" Draco urged.

"I'm an eleven year old who's just learning about magic, dealing with the fact that my mum is in prison and my father was evil, wondering how I'm gonna tell my adoptive parents that information, and now I have to worry about being a TA, all while maintaining a good basis of Muggle sciences so that my parents don't think I'm wasting my brain here." She pulled away from Draco and shook her head. "I have too much on my plate for... crushes and whatnot."

"But if you  _did_ have a crush... please say that it wouldn't be Potter."

"It wouldn't be." She answered, standing. "Now, if you'll excuse me." She pulled her books off of the table and walked away.

~~

When she walked into Potions Wednesday morning, there was a small desk at the front of the class, next to Snape's. On it were two plaques; one reading 'Melanie Malfoy' and the other reading 'Calidara Nefzen'. "Pick one, so that I might be able to stop arbitrarily saying whichever comes to mind first." Snape ordered as she looked at the plaques. 

That gave her pause. 'Malfoy' felt right. It was her mother's name and it felt like it was hers... But 'Melanie' felt like someone else. 'Calidara' was definitely her but 'Nefzen' felt like Jemma and Edward's name, now. After staring at it for a moment, she took each plaque and broke it in half, tossing half into a rubbish bin and sticking two halves together to read 'Calidara Malfoy', then she pulled out her wand and pointed it at the broken pieces. " _Transuo_." The plaque halves came together as though they were meant to be and she presented it to the Potions Master. "No confusion. No arbitrary changes. This is me."

"So, eager to showcase your pure-blood heritage, are you?"

Callie scoffed, offended. "No! It's not about that. It's about showing support and love for my mum who's rotting in Azkaban, right now."

"It also shows your support for your uncle, the man who put her there."

"No. No, it doesn't. It's not... I'm a Malfoy. That doesn't mean I have to support..." She took a deep breath and shook her head. "It's not a big deal. Calidara Malfoy. It's right."

"Fine. Have a seat, Malfoy."

"Yes, sir." She said, pulling out her stool and sitting at her new desk. 

Draco rushed forward, smiling at her as she sat at her desk. "Hey! New desk... and it says 'Malfoy'! That's what you're going with, then? 'Callie Malfoy'?"

"Yes. And you should get to your seat. I've got to pay attention to everybody, you know?"

"You mean the Gryffindors."

"No, I mean everybody. Go sit down." She urged, with a smile. Draco nodded, seeming to think she wasn't being wholly truthful about who she'd focus on. Harry waved at her as he and Ron walked in, and she smiled back at him, but didn't wave because Snape glared at her as soon as she moved her arm.

"Miss Malfoy will be acting as my Teaching Assistant until such a time as I tire of her upbeat personality." Snape said at the start of class. "She has no power beyond what I assign her, which currently is only this desk which says she is my favorite. Treat her with the respect her desk affords."

Draco looked proud of his cousin at the words and smiled at her, but she just ducked her head. She knew that wasn't the favorite... just the one who knew his secret.

~~

Defense Against the Dark Arts was sure to be her favorite course if Quirrel could make it through the lesson. He kept looking over at her, nervously, like the other students did. It was sort of absurd for a grown man, an expert in standing up to Dark Wizards, was worried about an eleven year old girl. He seemed almost afraid to turn his back to her. But the one time that he did, the dark feeling flared up again, worse than with Snape. One of the shutters on the window closest to her slammed closed, making the entire room gasp. 

Quirrel giggled, nervously, then moved on with the lesson. "Th-that m-must have been th-the wind. Now, ba-back to th-the d-difference between hexes an-and j-j-j-jinxes."

"Professor Quirrel." She said, walking up to him after class had dismissed. 

"M-m-m-miss M-m-m-malfoy, wh-what are you d-d-doing here? D-don't you have Hi-hi-history of M-m-magic to get to?" 

"I just... I was wondering..." She didn't want to come out and ask like she'd done with Snape, because he didn't feel Snape did. "How much experience do you have with the Dark Arts?"

He giggled again. "I admit... n-not much. I've m-mostly just r-read b-b-books. But I d-d-d-did t-take a year to go across Europe for f-f-fir-first hand exp-p-p-perience." 

"Right. And you were... sorry, how old are you, Professor?"

"Tw-twenty-five. But I was v-very adv-vanced at M-m-m-muggle Studies and D-d-d-dark Arts."

"So, you were too young to be one of Voldemort's."

Quirrel giggled, again. "M-m-m-much too y-y-young. V-very brave of y-you to s-say his name."

"I'm not afraid of his name. It's just a name. Everyone in this society is so afraid of a name. All of them, followers and victims, alike, afraid to call him by his name. I'm not afraid of Voldemort."

"Well, you are family, aren't you?" He said, incredibly bold in comparison to his stuttering speech. 

"No. Voldemort is no more family to me than you are." She smiled tightly and turned. "Have a nice day, Professor."

~~

"Quirrel feels wrong." Calidara said as she closed the door to the Potions classroom. "Like, he's dark and not just 'been around the dark arts' dark." 

"You don't need to worry about Professor Quirrel."

"Really?" She responded, skeptically.

"You need only worry about your connection to the Dark Lord and how to sever it."

"Okay, are you gonna look into him?"

Snape sighed and nodded. "Of course, I will. Now, sit down." He pointed at her desk and she sat down. "Clear your mind. Let go of your emotions."

Calidara took a deep breath and let her feelings about all of the situations in her life disappear.

~~

Callie spent most of the weekend with Draco, Crabbe and Goyle, except for the three hours she spent watching Gryffindor's Quidditch practice. "You really are so amazing at that! You make flying look so easy."

"It's easier for some than others." George responded.

"You'll be learning to fly soon. Madam Hooch starts first years, what, next week?"

"Yes! It's the class us first years are looking forward to the most. Wednesday with the Gryffindors, so I get to learn with all my favorite people... aside from the two of you, of course."

"Draco and his cronies aren't on that list of people, are they?" George asked.

"I still don't understand why you took his name." Fred complained.

"Oh, should I call myself 'Calidara deMort'? Would that be better?"

"No, but you already had a name, you know." Fred groaned. "Why'd you have to change it, at all?"

She opened her mouth and tried to respond, but just shrugged. "I just... I guess I never really felt like a Nefzen. My mum and dad, the ones that adopted me, they're definitely Nefzens, but I just..." She shook her head. "As soon as they told me I was a Malfoy..."

"Your family are crappy wizards. They think just 'cause they have money and can trace their blood back, it makes them better than everyone else." George stopped them as they came into the courtyard.

"I know that. I know they think that, but  _I_  don't believe that."

"But if you spend time around them, they might change your mind. It would be terrible if you ended up like one of them." Fred said, angrily.

Callie looked down, feeling a bit happy at the older boy feeling so passionate about her well-being, but working to hide it. "I won't. They can't influence me to hate like they do."

"Then, why would you hang with them?" George asked.

"Well, Draco's family. Closest I've got here, you know? Can't choose your family, I guess. Look, I'm not gonna adopt their viewpoint and if he weren't my only link to my mum, I wouldn't give him the time of day. He's vile, but he knows about her."

The twins looked between each other then nodded. "Yeah, okay. But if we see you start to go full-Malfoy, we'll let you know." George said.

~~

Sitting at her desk, Calidara was watching as the rest of the class put together the Antidote for Common Poisons that she created before class started. Her eyes sweeping across the classroom, she saw Hermione almost finished and Harry and Ron whispering to each other over their text book about whether it was time to put in the unicorn horn. She stood and walked down to their table. "Five more minutes." She said, with a smile.

"I think I've got it!" Neville shouted, jumping up. 

"No, you added too much unicorn horn!" Callie yelled as the cauldron bubbled over and the boiling liquid exploded onto her face.

Callie woke up Thursday morning in the hospital wing.The table next to her bed held a small hill of chocolates and two handmade cards. One was from Neville and she could tell that his hand was shaking as he apologized profusely. The other was from the twins.

_'We heard what Longbottom did to your face. We tried to come visit but Pom-pom said it was "too ghastly". Like she doesn't know that's half of why we wanted to visit. The other half was to tell you to meet us at the Quidditch pitch Thursday at 3:30... if your face has stopped looking like a horror film by then._

_F + G'_

She ate lunch in the hospital, but convinced Madam Pomfrey to let her leave for Herbology and Charms and at 3:30, she made her way to the pitch. There wasn't a practice happening like she'd expected, just Fred and George, in their normal robes, waiting for her. "See, told you she wouldn't have any permanent disfigurement." George called out as she crossed the field.

"Yeah. It would've been a tragedy to lose these model good looks." She joked.

"Damn straight." Fred responded, smiling.

She looked around. "So... why are we here?"

The twins smiled, brightly. "We know you missed your first flying lesson." They said, together. 

"And we can't fix that you missed the excitement of Harry and Draco racing each other for Neville's Remembrall." George continued.

"But we  _can_  teach you how to fly." Fred stepped aside to show three broomsticks on the grass.

"Really? I thought Madam Hooch was the only one who- I mean, are you  _allowed_ to teach me how to fly?"

The twins scoffed. "Allowed? Who cares?"

Fred grabbed her hand and pulled her to the left of one of the brooms. "Hand out, over the broom, then say 'up'."

Callie followed directions, giggling as the broom jumped into her waiting palm. "Good. Now, mount it." George said, as they called their brooms into their hands and demonstrated how to mount the broom. She followed their example and was soon hovering over the field. "You were right, Fred. She's a natural."

"Just like Harry."

"If you hadn't been a victim of Neville's clumsiness, you might have a spot on Slytherin's Quidditch team."

"Slytherin's already got two Beaters. I'll have to wait 'til one of them matriculates."

"Oh, she wants to be a Beater." George teased.

"We do make it look glamorous, don't we?" Fred responded.

"Next time we do this, we'll steal some Bludgers and bats, see how you fly when you've got angry cannonballs after you."

Callie smiled and flew off toward one of the goals. It was much bigger than it appeared from the ground. "Glad you don't have a problem with heights." Fred appeared next to her.

"No problem with heights. Gee. Look at it. No wonder Harry and Draco couldn't keep their feet on the ground."

"Right. It's enough to make you forget your problems, huh?" Fred smiled. "Up here in the clouds, it's just you and your broom."

"No Snape, no mum in prison, no parents sending me Maths books by owl..."

"Nobody whispering about you behind your back because you're You-Know-Who's daughter." George offered, flying up on the other side of her.

"No Draco trying to be nice to me, but just making me feel awkward." She smiled, turning her broom to face them. "Thank you."

"No problem." They said.

"Now I get to pretend like I've never been on a broom before for my first lesson next week. Blow them out of the water."

"'Out of the air', you mean." George joked, diving his broom toward the field.

She laughed and followed him, pulling up just before she crashed into the grass. "Moves like that, you'll definitely make Slytherin's team." Fred came to a stop and jumped off of his broom. "We're gonna be regretting teaching you next year."

"Oh, well."

"I won't tell your team you helped train the opposition." 

"Just don't play like a Slytherin and we'll be okay." Fred took the broom from her hand and started to walk off of the field.

"They cheat, don't they?"

"No, but they don't play  _fair_." The twins answered.


	7. Believability

Occlumency helped her blend in with the other Slytherins. She kept her emotions to herself and that made it easy for her to hide her disgust at their treatment of the other students and the almost-omnipresent blood prejudice, and she was able to act like she didn't care about Draco tormenting Harry. She was also able to hide her distrust of Professor Quirrel, who gave her bad feelings no matter how many times Snape told her to ignore it.

So, when he ran into the Great Hall halfway through Hallowe'en feast, screaming "Troll... in the dungeons! Troll... in the dungeons!" she was suspicious before he stopped running and said, "Thought you ought to know." When he fainted, she watched him carefully. His eyes fluttered open to see if everyone was running how he thought they should, closing again as everyone started screaming. Callie her eyes at Draco screaming his head off.

Headmaster Dumbledore shot 8 bright purple firecrackers from his wand into the air. "Prefects. Lead your Houses back to the dormitories immediately. Teachers, follow me to the dungeons." He said, the teachers at the High Table following him out. 

In the confusion, Callie ducked under the table as the Prefects started leading everyone back to their dorms, poking her head out as she saw the turbaned man jump up. She rushed after him, hiding as several ghosts passed through to see the commotion in the dungeons. As he made it to the Third Floor corridor, she rushed to meet him before he opened the locked door. "What are you doing?" She demanded.

His face flashed anger before returning to its normal meek facial expression. "What d-do you m-m-m-mean?"

"Don't insult me, you stuttering numpty! I saw you! You fake-fainted so you could come up here while everyone ran scared from the troll."

"I-I d-d-d-don't-"

"Oh, spare me. I've thought something was wonky with you since my second week at Hogwarts."

His face went serious and cocky. "You have no evidence. It'll be the word of an eleven year old girl against an accomplished Hogwarts instructor. The child of the Dark Lord against poor, pathetic, weak Professor Quirrel. No one will believe you."

She was shocked by the truth in his stutter-free words. Without absolute proof, she'd just be Voldemort's daughter trying to besmirch the name of a 'good man'. "Fine. But I'm watching you." She said, but her voice had lost its conviction.

"Run along to the dungeons, Miss Malfoy. You wouldn't want to be caught somewhere you ought not be." Calidara bit her lip, wanting to say something more to the two-faced man, but being unable to think of anything. She gave a huffing breath, then turned and ran for her Common Room. "Oh, and 10 points will be deducted from Slytherin for you straying from the rest of your House."

~~

"Quirrel was going to the Third Floor corridor." Callie said, tossing ingredients into her cauldron. "I don't know why, but... he's not who he pretends to be. Is there something up there? Other than whatever got your leg, I mean."

"Calidara, please listen." Snape urged from his chair. She looked over, splitting her attention between the potion she was stirring and the Potions Master. "Quirrel is not your concern. What is in the Third Floor corridor is not your concern. You need only be concerned with your grades, your Occlumency progress and keeping the Dark Lord out of your head and heart. Do you understand me?"

"Okay, but-"

"No. Do you understand, Calidara?"

She sighed turning back to the potion. "Yes, sir." She brought the flame under her cauldron down to a low heat and turned back to him. "It'll be done soon. It won't do anything for the scars."

" _I_  can fix the scars. You're helping with the pain." He groaned.

~~

Callie knew she couldn't root for Gryffindor in the first Quidditch match of the year, even though three of her best friends were playing for that side, so she sneaked into their staging area before the match.

"Callie!" Harry said, smiling.

"Sorry to barge in, but I'm gonna have to be cheering for Green so I thought I'd wish you luck before your first match."

"Thanks!" Harry exclaimed.

"What about us?" The twins were suddenly behind her, each wrapping an arm around her in a sandwich hug.

"Well, I  _know_  you're not gonna have problems." She said, leaning from one side to the other to embrace the twins back.

"And how does she know that?" Oliver Wood asked, stomping forward.

"They've told me all about their matches last year." She covered. 

"Yer not givin' tips to the enemy, are you?"

"Not at all." The Weasleys chorused.

She squeezed them, then wrapped her arms around Harry, who blushed a deep red. "Good luck! I'm pulling for you." She said, before skipping out of the area and heading for the bleachers. Draco saved her a seat, which she slid into.

"Where were you?"

"I was in the loo. Don't wanna have to run off halfway through the match." She lied. Draco believe it though and handed her a thermos of warm tea.

"So, do you even know about Quidditch?" Draco asked.

"Yes. I've read  _'Quidditch Through the Ages'_. What do you take me for?" She rolled her eyes and pulled her cloak around her tighter as a sign across the pitch in the Gryffindor stands caught her eyes. 'POTTER FOR PRESIDENT' in many bright, flashing colors. 

"I bet Potter gets hit by a Bludger within five minutes." Draco grumbled to Crabbe next to him.

"I think he'll do fine." Callie said, as Madam Hooch walked out to the middle of the field. Everyone cheered as the two teams of seven players walked out to meet the referee. She spoke to them briefly before everyone mounted their brooms and Madam Hooch blew a whistle, sending everyone into the sky. 

"And the Quaffle is taken immediately by Angelina Johnson of Gryffindor- what an excellent Chaser that girl is, and rather attractive, too-" Lee Jordan started the commentary which could be heard across the pitch.

"JORDAN!" Professor McGonagall scolded, loudly.

"Sorry Professor. And she's really belting along up there, a neat pass to Alicia Spinnet, a good find of Oliver Wood's, last year only a reserve- back to Johnson and- no, the Slytherins have taken the Quaffle, Slytherin Captain Marcus Flint gains the Quaffle and off he goes- Flint flying like an eagle up there- he's going to sc- no, stopped by an excellent move by Gryffindor Keeper Wood and the Gryffindors take the Quaffle- that's Chaser Katie Bell of Gryffindor there, nice dive around Flint, off up the field and- OUCH- that must have hurt, hit in the back of the head by a Bludger- Quaffle taken by the Slytherins- that's Adrian Pucey speeding off toward the goalposts but he's blocked by a second Bludger- sent his way by Fred or George Weasley, can't tell which ("THAT'S GEORGE!" Callie yelled, earning a glare from Draco.) -nice play by the Gryffindor Beater, anyway, and Johnson back in possession of the Quaffle, a clear field ahead and off she goes- she's really flying- dodges a speeding Bludger- the goalposts are ahead- come on, now, Angelina- Keeper Bletchley dives- misses- GRYFFINDORS SCORE!"

Callie kept her mouth shut but she was happy about it and didn't try to stop the smile as Harry did a few happy loop-the-loops to celebrate the point. "Slytherin in possession. Chaser Pucey ducks two Bludgers, two Weasley and Chaser Bell, and speeds toward the- wait a moment- was that the Snitch?" Lee asked, causing the crowds on both sides of the pitch to start murmuring as Adrian Pucey dropped the Quaffle. Harry dove for the streak of gold, but so did the Slytherin Seeker Terence Higgs. They dove neck and neck, hurtling toward the ground as the other team members stopped what they were doing to watch the Seekers in seeming free-fall. 

Callie let out a gasp as Marcus Flint rammed Harry with his broom, knocking off-course. The Gryffindors were quite a bit more enraged about the event, as they all shouted 'FOUL!!!'. Madam Hooch flew up to Flint, obviously angry as she spoke to him and then announced that Gryffindor would get a free shot at Slytherin's goals. 

"So- after that obvious and disgusting bit of cheating-" Lee started.

"Jordan!" growled Professor McGonagall.

"I mean, after that open revolting foul-"

" _Jordan, I'm warning you-_ "

"All right, all right. Flint nearly kills the Gryffindor Seeker, which could happen to anyone, I'm sure, so a penalty to Gryffindor, taken by Spinnet, who puts it away, no trouble, and we continue play, Gryffindor still in possession. Slytherin in possession- Flint with the Quaffle- passes Spinnet- passes Bell- hit hard in the face by a Bludger, hope it broke his nose- only joking, Professor- Slytherins score, oh no."

Callie's attention moved seamlessly from Fred to Harry, whose broom seemed to be trying to emulate an electric bull. It was bucking him off. "What's going on there?" She asked, pointing at Harry as his broom started rolling over and over, the boy just barely managing to hold on. She, and much of the crowd, gasped as the broom gave a jerk and he swung off of it. He was left dangling from the broom, with just one hand. She turned around to look at the staff box, her eyes falling on Quirrel. His eyes were focused on Harry, intently. She felt a little better to see Snape focusing on Harry, too. Snape knew what Quirrel was doing to Harry and he was doing what he could to stop it. All she could do was watch helplessly as Harry dangled over the field. Fred and George flew over to try and pull him onto one of their brooms, but every time either of them got close to him, the broom jumped higher. Suddenly, the broom stabilized and Callie looked over to the Staff stands. Quirrel was picking himself up from where Hermione knocked him over and Hermione was... setting fire to Snape's robes? 

Callie turned back to the field just in time to see Harry dive at the ground, clap his hand over his mouth like he was going to be sick, hit the field on all fours, cough into his hand and raise his hand triumphantly to show everyone the Golden Snitch. "I've got the Snitch!" He shouted.

"Did... did he catch it in his mouth?" Callie asked, turning to Draco, who looked devastated as Lee Jordan shouted out a win for Gryffindor 60 to 170. "Has that ever happened before? I didn't see anything about it in-"

"Shut it!" Draco growled. Callie glared at him as she stood and tossed his thermos into his lap and stood, stomping down the stands and toward the castle. "Callie!"

~~

Callie had been distant from Draco since the Quidditch match and he'd taken his anger and disgust out on Harry, making fun of him for his family situation. She took her disgust at her cousin out on the library books, reading through several dozen in the two and a half weeks between the Quidditch match and her getting on the train home for Christmas. It was a few days after the match when she was sitting in the library and heard, "Callie? Are you mental? She wasn't hurt! Snape was!" from Harry.

"Yes, I know, but I have it on good authority that Professor Quirrel took those 10 points from Slytherin on Halloween because Calidara ran off from the rest of the Slytherins and made it back to their common room a good 15 minutes late, Harry! I know you think she's your friend, Harry, but you have to look at this from our point of view. She's You-Know-Who's daughter." Hermione argued, quietly.

"And she's Snape's TA." Ron provided.

"If they were working together, they have every night to plot things." Hermione said. 

"She's friends with your brothers, too." Harry started to defend her, weakly. "But... I guess maybe it's... possible."

She gasped, feeling a bit betrayed. "It's more than possible, Harry. It's probable." Hermione concluded.

"Now, we just have to find out who Nicolas Flamel is, since Hagrid won't tell us." Ron said, seemingly upset about the research.

Calidara repeated the name several times in her head to remember it, then walked out of the stacks and over to the table where the Gryffindors sat. She pulled on every bit of her Occlumency training to hide her anger. "Hello! What are you doing?" She asked, brightly.

"Nothing." They responded simultaneously.

She smiled, tightly. "Oh, Harry. I never got a chance to congratulate you on the Quidditch match. It was brilliant. How you stayed on your broom, how you caught the Snitch. Brilliant. Oh, and I know that Professor Snape took this from you the day before the match and he kinda bit your head off when you tried to get it back." She said, pulling ' _Quidditch Through the Ages'_  out of her robes and handing it to Harry. "I'm his TA. You should have just asked me to get it back for you."

Harry looked guilty as he looked down at the library book. "Thanks, Callie."

"What are friends for?" She said, smiling at him as she walked out of the library and her smile faltered. What exactly did those stupid Gryffindors think she did?

The last Potions class of December saw her angry at almost everyone in the cold dungeon. She took the cold as an opportunity to pull the hood of her cloak down and avoid the world. She couldn't close her ears to her cousin's words, though. "I do feel so sorry for all those people who have to stay at Hogwarts for Christmas because they're not wanted at home." He was speaking of Harry, of course. 

Callie would normally defend Harry, but she just walked by and handed Draco a bottle of powdered spine of lionfish. "This is Potions class, not Speech, Draco." She bit out. Draco glowered, but didn't respond, taking the bottle and turning back to his cauldron.

At the end of class, as they left, they were faced with a giant fir tree blocking the corridor. Hagrid was moving it. "Hi, Hagrid, want any help?" Ron asked.

"Nah, I'm all right, thanks, Ron."

"Would you mind moving out of the way?" Draco drawled. "Are you trying to earn some extra money, Weasley? Hoping to be gamekeeper yourself when you leave Hogwarts, I suppose- that hut of Hagrid's must seem like a palace compared to what your family's used to."

Ron dived at Draco as Snape made it to the top of the stairs behind Calidara. "WEASLEY!" Snape shouted, causing Ron to let go of the front of Draco's robes. 

"He was provoked, Professor Snape." Hagrid said.

"Draco  _was_ insulting his family." Callie defended.

"Be that as it may, fighting is against Hogwarts rules. Five points from Gryffindor, Weasley, and be grateful it isn't more. Move along, all of you." Snape ordered.

Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle pushed past the tree, scattering pine needles everywhere. "I'll get him, one of these days. I'll get him-"

"I hate them both, Malfoy and Snape." Harry ground out.

"He's not the only Malfoy. And he might be vile-" Calidara said, pushing past Ron. "-but at least he doesn't physically attack people."

"No, he just makes fun of everyone and treats people like they're less than him." Ron defended.

"Well, at least people know where they stand with him." She said, sliding along the wall, avoiding the needles of the tree.

" _She's_ just as bad as he is, I'm tellin' ya!"


	8. Christmas, Dragons, and Detention

When Callie came into the Common Room on the morning of the 20th, carrying a small trunk of all of the Science and Maths texts she'd managed to get through already, Draco was waiting for her. "I don't want to go on holiday angry."

"You're always angry." She said, dropping the trunk on a nearby chair. She could tell this conversation wasn't going to be short. "All the time. About things that don't have anything to do with you, like how much money my friends' parents have, or Harry nearly choking on the bloody Snitch. Or, literally, anything to do with Potter. Why do you care so much?"

"Because Potter thinks he's a gift because everyone knows his name and the Weasleys have nothing and act like that's okay!"

"You're jealous." She said, suddenly.

"No, I'm-"

"Because you've never wanted for anything and still feel empty and they have to scrounge and scrape for every sickle and they have everything. Oh, doesn't that make so much sense." She rolled her eyes. "Look, just because I'm friends with people you don't like, that doesn't make us less family. And you don't have to get a bad attitude with me, okay? You big jerk."

"So, are we good?" Draco asked, skeptically.

"Yes, dumbass, we are."

"You wanna sit with me and Crabbe and Goyle on the train?" He asked, smiling.

"I suppose." She said, turning to pick up the trunk.

"Goyle, grab that, would you?" Draco ordered, pulling Callie by the arm out of the Common Room.

~~

Her parents were waiting at King's Cross Station when Calidara got off of the Hogwarts Express. They wrapped her in their arms and welcomed her home before ushering her off to the taxi they left waiting at the curb with the meter running. When they got to the townhouse, they sat her down and inundated her with a million questions about Hogwarts and the wizarding world. 

"And you said you've found information about your birth parents?" Her mother asked.

"Oh... yeah, actually. Not much about my birth father, except that he was an old and powerful wizard, but my birth mother..." She took a deep breath and gave a big smile. "Miranda. She was a brilliant woman, terribly nice... she got... mixed up in a bad situation with her brother, and that's why she had to give me up, but... she was a Malfoy, one of the oldest wizarding families in existence." 

"Oh! That's good, then." Her father said.

"You're not gonna be leaving us, are you?"

"Run off and join your magical family?" 

Calidara chuckled, but shook her head. "No, of course not! I'd never. But, they have started callin' me 'Malfoy' at school." She expected them to be a bit upset, but she didn't see any anger in their eyes.

"Of course, we understand. As long as you're still our Callie, girl." Her mother said, smiling.

"Of course, I am!"

She woke early on Christmas morning and walked into the living room. She was greeted by an owl, perched on the back of the sofa, asleep. She looked around, her eyes falling on two ornately wrapped gifts which didn't match her parents' wrapping paper. She picked up the card off of one and opened it. 

_Merry Christmas, Callie._

_Saw this at the shop, thought you'd like it. See you in January._

_Draco_

She moved to the other card and opened it to an elegant script.

_Melanie,_

_We've not met, but I am your uncle Lucius. I hope you are having an enjoyable Christmas holiday. Please enjoy this necklace I commissioned for you._

_L.A. Malfoy_

She looked around, sure that Jemma and Edward were still asleep, she knew they wouldn't notice that she opened the two presents, so she opened the one Draco sent. It was a bracelet, a platinum snake with emerald eyes that clasped as an ouroborus with the tail in the snake's mouth. It was beautiful and she immediately clasped it onto her left wrist before she tore into the box from Lucius. It was also platinum and she wondered for a moment why her uncle thought she'd like the skull with the ruby eyes... but she did. She slipped it over her head and hid it in her shirt as her parents walked into the living room.

~~

As much as she loved being back in London, Callie was ecstatic to get back on the big red train to Hogwarts. In primary school, she'd always had trouble getting back into the school spirit after holidays, but as soon as she walked back into the Great Hall entrance, she was more than ready to get back to classes.

"About time you showed up. Took the last train so you could spend as much time with your family as possible?"

It was a poor imitation, so she could tell it was a Weasley trying to mock her cousin's tone and affect. She turned with a smile and jumped at Fred. "Fred! How was your Christmas?"

"It was good. All kinds of trouble to get into when there's only a handful of teachers. We got in a snowball fight with Quirrel's turban."

She laughed. "Yeah? Did you win?"

"Well, the turban put up a good fight, but I'm happy to report the Weasleys arose victorious."

"I'm sure the turban was a worthy adversary. Any other happenings?"

"We got to see Peeves pull Snape's robes up over his head. Mostly, though, we just played Wizard Chess with Ron and Harry, or went explorin'. Boring. Just like bein' home. So, how  _was_  bein' home?"

"It was great! I got a lot of presents from my parents, none of which I could bring back with me, and some fancy

jewelry from the Malfoys and I spent my time avoiding my old friends 'cause I can't tell them about Hogwarts."

"Well, you've got better friends, now."

"Yeah.  _Us._ " Callie smiled tightly as she turned to Draco, Crabbe and Pansy Parkinson. "Why don't you run off and find your mirror image?"

"Now, now, boys. No need to get nasty. I do need to put my stuff away, though. I'll see you later, Fred."

"Okay." Fred nodded at her, glared at Draco and walked away.

"So, did you like your presents?" Draco asked as they headed for the dungeons.

"Oh, definitely. I especially like the bracelet. I've always really liked snakes." She said, admiring the bracelet. "Used to fancy I could talk to them."

~~

It wasn't until almost February that she found the name Nicolas Flamel in her notes from her read-through of 'Alchemy: Principles and Propositions'.  _ **'Nicolas Flamel=Philosopher's Stone=Wealth/Immortality'**_. 

"That's what Quirrel's tryin' to get. Flamel's Philosopher's Stone. I know teachers don't get paid much, but  _honestly_." She rolled her eyes as she tucked her notebook away and went to Snape's classroom. "There's a Philosopher's Stone hidden in the Third Floor corridor, isn't there?"

He looked up, tiredly. He didn't ask how she knew, just waved her over. "That stone is not your business."

"It  _is_. Because Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and the least-interesting Weasley seem to think you and I are plotting together to... I don't know, steal it? And since Quirrel is so interested in that corridor, I can only imagine that he's trying to do what we're being accused of."

"I will take care of it, Miss Malfoy. It is best for you to stop inserting yourself into things that are not your business."

"I take it as my business when I've been accused of something, Professor."

"Miss Malfoy!" Snape exclaimed. "Do not question me. I will deal with it."

"Yes, sir." She said, flopping into her seat as the other first years walked in.

~~

Callie tried to reassure her friends that Snape would be a fair substitute referee for the Hufflepuff/Gryffindor match, but she could tell that they were worried. Harry was positively pale as he prepared to play, but she was still upset that Harry thought she was working with Snape to steal the Philosopher's Stone, so she just hugged the twins, wished them luck, and left to the stands. She was sitting behind and to the left of Ron, Hermione and Neville. Draco, Crabbe and Goyle were sitting right behind them. Draco reached out and poked Ron in the back of his head. 

"Oh, sorry, Weasley, didn't see you there." He smiled broadly at Crabbe, Goyle and Calidara, but she ignored him. She might not like Ron, but she wasn't going to start an argument with him. "Wonder how long Potter's going to stay on his broom this time? Anyone want a bet? What about you, Weasley?" He taunted. Ron didn't answer, too busy watching Snape award a penalty to Hufflepuff because George had sent a Bludger at him. "You know how I think they choose people for the Gryffindor team? It's people they feel sorry for. See, there's Potter, who's got no parents, then the Weasleys who've got no money- you should be on the team, Longbottom, you've got no brains."

Neville turned bright red, from anger or embarrassment Callie wasn't sure, but twisted in his seat and faced Draco. "I'm worth twelve of you, Malfoy." He stammered, obviously nervous.

Callie smiled, enchanted by the nervous boy's show of bravery, but the Slytherins on the other side of her laughed in Neville's face. "You tell him, Neville." Ron encouraged.

"Longbottom, if brains were gold you'd be poorer than Weasley and that's saying something."

"Draco." Callie warned, quietly, but she was overtaken by Ron's stronger warning. "I'm warning you, Malfoy- one more word-"

"Ron! Harry-!" Hermione said, suddenly.

"What? Where?" Ron said as Harry started a spectacular dive toward the field.

"You're in luck, Weasley, Potter's obviously spotted some money on the ground!" Draco taunted.

Callie jumped out of the way, standing on her seat as Ron turned and jumped at Draco, wrestling him to the ground. Neville visibly hesitated before clambering over the back of his seat and jumping at Crabbe and Goyle. Callie and Hermione both celebrated as Harry raised the Snitch in triumph and the stands erupted. That was the fastest game of Quidditch ever! As the boys continued fighting, Callie jumped down and grabbed Ron and Crabbe by the back of their robes. "You idiots better stop fighting before the excitement dies. If the staff sees you, you'll be in detention for the rest of your lives." Draco skittered backward away from Ron, who twisted out of Callie's grasp and moved to pick the unconscious Neville up. Callie turned to her cousin and shook her head. "You've a black eye. Come on. I think I've got a potion that can clear that up." 

"Why don't you take me to Madam Pomfrey?" Draco whined.

"You show up next to a knocked out Gryffindor, right after Gryffindor overtakes us in the House Cup? You don't think that's a giant red flag?"

"They attacked  _us_!"

"You provoked them and let me tell you, you bloody deserved it!" Callie growled at him. "Just leave the Gryffindors alone. You don't have to be such an arsehole."

"They attacked us." He repeated, quietly.

~~

It was a few weeks later when Draco rushed up to her. "You'll never believe what I just saw. It's absolutely perfect, the nail in Potter's coffin, and that stupid oaf, Hagrid, too."

"And that is?" She didn't look up as she worked on studying for the end of year exams that were coming up in 8 weeks. 

"Hagrid has a  _dragon!_ " Callie's eyes popped up to Draco's. He nodded, excitedly. "I know. So illegal!"

"You've got no problem with Illegal. You just want to use it against Harry and Hagrid, both of whom are people I like... usually. So, are you going to tell?"

"I... of course not. Not yet, anyway. They know I saw the dragon, so I'm going to drag it out, drive them mad wondering when their number is up."

"Oh. So, more games. Great." She said, before turning back to her notes. She was more than weary of their bull. There were more important things to deal with. She was, of course, not at all surprised when Draco was dragged into Snape's study by Professor McGonagall at just before midnight, interrupting her Occlumency lesson. 

"I'm telling you, Potter has a dragon! He's going to be in the Astronomy Tower any minute!" 

"Severus, I found him in the Astronomy Tower. He's been telling these stories about Potter. I figured you would want to take care of him yourself. I have already deducted 20 points from Slytherin and given him detention. Any other punishment is up to you." McGonagall pushed Draco toward Snape, then nodded at Callie. "Miss Malfoy." 

"Professor." She responded, tightly, before turning to her cousin. "Detention. Your father is going to flip his lid. Have you ever got a Howler before?" She chuckled.

"I wasn't lying, Professor Snape! I saw it! Two weeks ago, it hatched in the gamekeeper's hut!"

"If you saw it two weeks ago, why am I just now hearing about it?" Snape asked, grabbing the backs of their robes and pushing them out the door and toward the Slytherin dorms. Draco didn't have an answer for that which didn't make him seem petty and childish, so he didn't answer.

"Twenty points. I can't believe... and detention... my father-" 

"Oh, shut up, Draco! You were out of bed, take the punishment." Callie said, kicking her cousin's foot as she walked by him.

"You were out of bed, too!"

"I was with a teacher!"

"What  _were_  you doing with Snape on a Saturday at midnight? Didn't think your TA duties extended into the weekends."

She rolled her eyes. "My TA duties extend as far as our Head of House wants them to."

"It didn't look like you were grading papers for him. What were you-"

Callie sighed. "You know Snape is great at Defense Against the Dark Arts. You know Quirrel's not. So, I convinced Professor Snape to give me some pointers on the weekends 'cause I've been an amazing Assistant all year."

"That's... awesome! Why didn't you tell me?"

"You were too busy torturing Harry over the bloody dragon!" She shook her head and walked toward the Girls' dorms. "Go to sleep, Draco."

~~

Harry, Hermione and Neville spent the next several weeks leading up to exams being ostracized by their House for losing 150 points in one go. Callie offered her support to Harry, happy because he seemed to have backed off of the meddling he was into. Draco was trying to forget that he'd been sentenced to a detention, but the longer it went without him finding out about detention, the more nervous he got. Callie, the sympathetic girl she was, couldn't let her cousin go into it by himself and convinced Snape to give her detention so that she could have Harry and Draco's backs. 

"What'd you do to get detention?" Draco asked as they looked over their notes from Snape at the breakfast table. 

"I broke a phial of Felix Felicis because I wasn't paying attention. It's incredibly valuable and nigh irreplaceable, so..." She gestured with the letter.

"Well, at least I won't be the only Slytherin, then."

They met with Mr. Filch at the entrance to the Great Hall, along with Harry, Hermione, and Neville, and the old man lectured them about punishment and the 'old ways', for a while before walking them out toward Hagrid's hut. Hagrid called out, complaining about wanting to get started. "I suppose you think you'll be enjoying yourself with that oaf?" Filch growled at Harry. "Well, think again, boy- it's into the forest you're going and I'm much mistaken if you'll all come out in one piece." 

Neville let out a little moan of fear and Draco stopped dead in his tracks. "The forest? We can't go in there at night- there's all sorts of things in there- werewolves, I heard." Draco's voice was soaked with fear. Callie thought it was a bit funny, actually.

"That's your problem, isn't it? Should've thought of them werewolves before you got in trouble, shouldn't you?" Filch responded.

"Abou' time. I bin waitin' fer half an hour already. All right, Harry, Hermione?" Hagrid walked out, Fang on his heels. 

"I shouldn't be too friendly to them, Hagrid. They're here to be punished, after all."

"That's why yer late, is it? Bin lecturin' them, eh? 'Snot your place ter do that. Yeh've done yer bit, I'll take over from here."

"I'll be back at dawn, for what's left of them." 

"I'm not going in that forest." Draco said, turning to Hagrid. There was an edge of panic in his voice.

"Yeh are if yeh want ter stay at Hogwarts. Yeh've done wrong an' now yeh've got ter pay fer it."

"But this is servant stuff, it's not for students to do. I thought we'd be copying lines or something, if my father knew I was doing this, he'd-"

"-tell yer that's how it is at Hogwarts. Copyin' lines! What good's that ter anyone? Yeh'll do summat useful or yeh'll get out. If yeh think yer father'd rather you were expelled, then get back off ter the castle an' pack. Go on!" Callie grabbed Draco's arm and pulled him closer to Hagrid. "Right then, now listen carefully, 'cause it's dangerous what we're gonna do tonight, an' I don' want no one takin' risks. Follow me over here a moment."

He took them to the forest and soon they could see silvery shining stuff all over the ground. They were informed that it was unicorn blood, that something was killing the unicorns and it was their job to find the unicorn. The groups were originally split into Hagrid, Harry and Hermione in one and Fang, Callie, Neville and Draco in the other, but Draco scared Neville and so Harry and Neville switched places and they went off in different directions. They walked in relative silence as they headed deeper into the forest. They didn't want to draw attention to themselves as they followed the ever-thickening splashes of silvery blood. They could see a clearing up ahead and they approached cautiously, something bright and white on the forest floor. It was the unicorn, and it was dead.

Callie covered her mouth as tears popped up in her eyes. It was the saddest, most beautiful thing she'd ever seen. Harry took a step toward it, but froze when a slithering sound hit the air. Out of the shadows, a hooded figure came crawling across the ground like some stalking beast. The four of them stood transfixed. The cloaked figure reached the unicorn, lowered its head over the wound in the animal's side, and began to drink its blood.

Draco screamed, loud and terrible, and turned tail bolting away from the beast. Fang followed but Harry and Callie couldn't move for fear as the hooded figure raised its head and looked right at Harry, unicorn blood dripping down the front of it. It raised up on its feet and came at them, swiftly. Harry staggered backward, his hand slapping over his lightning bolt scar, but Callie still didn't move. The dark feeling flared up in her, her chest growing tight to the point that she couldn't breathe. 

Harry fell to his knees as a centaur jumped into the clearing and ran straight at the hooded figure. Callie devolved into hyperventilating as the figure ran away. Harry sat up two minutes later and looked up at the centaur as Callie continued trying to remember how to breathe. The centaur offered Harry a ride, but Callie walked away from the clearing as the centaur, Firenze, fawned over 'the Potter boy'. By the time she made it out of the forest, Draco was telling Hagrid about how his father was going to have him in Azkaban if his cousin was killed in the forest. "I'm fine. Thanks." She said, quietly. "Can we go back in, now? I'm..." She trailed off, barely realizing she'd been speaking.

"You all right, Callie?" Hagrid asked. "You wan' some tea 'fore you go in?"

She swallowed and shook her head. "Can I- please, Hagrid. I need to-"

Hagrid gave her a small pat on her back and sent her off toward the castle. She didn't respond to Draco asking her what happened after he ran off. She didn't respond to anything. She knew what that hooded figure in the forest was. Rather,  _who_  it was. Her father was alive. Her father was in the forest. Her father was killing unicorns. Why? Why was her father drinking unicorn blood? That question, she took to Snape.

"You can't believe the Dark Lord is in the Forbidden Forest."

"I  _saw_  him, you git!" She exploded. She looked down as Snape turned a glare on her. "Sorry. I'm kinda wound tight. I  _know_  I saw him, Professor."

"You don't know what the Dark Lord looks like, Calidara. You don't know what you saw."

"You've known me all year, Professor. Do you suddenly think I'm stupid? I could feel it. Like I felt the darkness in you... and how he looked at Harry. Professor, it was him. Why would he be-"

"Unicorn blood is used to give life to those on the edge of death. If the Dark Lord is in the forest, killing unicorns, it's to preserve his energy long enough for Quirrel to retrieve the Philosopher's Stone."

Callie closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. "Because of the Elixir of Life. It would bring him back, fully, wouldn't it? And it would be... just like it was when I was a baby."

"Worse, but you must not worry. He will not succeed."

"Right." 

"Now, go get some rest, Miss Malfoy. You have to prepare for your exams."

"Yes, sir."


	9. The Philosopher's Stone

Calidara made it through her written exams with ease, even though she was terrified of her father coming back to steal her away. Her pineapple tap-danced across Flitwick's desk while whistling 'Singing in the Rain', which the Charms teacher delighted in, her mouse turned into an elegant snuffbox with snakes across the lid and Professor McGonagall gave her extra points for it. And, of course, she made full marks on her Forgetfullness Potion. Her History of Magic exam was a little more difficult, but she managed to make it through and then she went out to the lake with the Weasley twins and Lee Jordan to relax.

"So, what's wrong with you?" Fred asked, as George and Lee started to tickle the tentacles of the Giant Squid which was basking in the shallow waters at the edge of the lake. 

"What do you mean?" She asked, quietly.

"Haven't heard you laugh in weeks." Fred dropped onto the ground next to her and looked over at her. "Thought you were worried about exams but here you are,  _not_ participating in the post-exam revelry."

Callie looked down. She hadn't mentioned any of her problems to any of her friends because she didn't want to bother them, didn't want to endanger them, didn't want them to think she was in the wrong. "It's complicated... and bloody crazy. I don't even..." 

"Come on. You can tell me." Fred encouraged.

She sighed. "How much do you know about the corridor up on three?"

"The forbidden one? There's something big up there, it's got nasty breath."

"Of course, you've looked into it. Okay..." She sat up and looked into his eyes. "In that corridor is a monster. I don't know what kind, but it's got big teeth. It's guarding an important... thing. Harry and his friends think that Professor Snape and I are plottin' to steal the important thing. The important thing is actually going to be stolen by... another professor and I have no proof. I have no proof that this other teacher is going to steal the important thing and I have no proof that he's stealing it at the behest of my father, who is skulking around the Forbidden Forest but I know he is and I know that I should do something to stop it, but how the hell can I? I'm just an eleven year old girl and no one's gonna believe me without proof and-"

"Callie, you're You-Know-Who's daughter. You're going to have to get used to people not believing you, and people thinking you're up to something. But I believe you and I know that you will do what you can to stop it, if there's anything you can do to stop it."

Callie smiled for the first time since her detention. "You're right, Fred. Thank you." 

"There's that smile. All right?"

"All right. I'll just go to Dumbledore. I should've done it months ago."

"Oh, you're not gonna be able to do that. Dumbledore flew out of here about fifteen minutes ago." 

Callie's throat went dry, at that. Dumbledore was the one thing keeping Quirrel in his place. "He'll be going after it tonight, then." She whispered, jumping up.

"Callie!"

"No, it's all right, Fred. You're right. I have to do what I can to stop it. It's all right." She smiled and ran off into the castle. She found Snape in the hallway, monitoring the students' movements. "Quirrel's going after the Stone tonight. I need to know what's guarding it."

"No, you don't."

She couldn't let him deny her anymore. He had his chance to stop the man, but now it was her time. "Professor Snape, if you don't want me to scream from the rooftops that you were a Death Eater, you will tell me what is guarding the Philosopher's Stone."

Snape glared at her, but pulled her into a nearby empty classroom. "I don't know exactly what's guarding the Stone. The first obstacle is a giant dog with three heads. I have been told that Professors Flitwick, Sprout, McGonagall and Dumbledore all put forth an obstacle. So did Quirrel and I."

"All right." She nodded, mostly in an attempt to psych herself up. "All right. Thank you, Professor."

"I assume that Potter and his friends have come to the same conclusion about Dumbledore's absence and the Stone... they seemed to be up to something."

"Great. So, now I have to get to Quirrel before Harry does, because Quirrel will kill him. Thank you, Professor."

~~

Calidara went to the Slytherin Common Room, but didn't wait for everyone to go to sleep before she left. Slytherins weren't big on following all the rules, anyway, so no one said anything to her as she left. She was lucky enough to make it to the Third Floor corridor without running into Mrs. Norris, Mr. Filch or Peeves. A harp was playing when she opened the door and the giant three-headed dog was snoring loudly as she walked in and looked down into the open trapdoor at the dog's feet. She couldn't see anything except darkness, which she didn't like much, so she pulled out her wand and whispered, ' _Lumos_ '. The tip of her wand started to glow and she sighed when it didn't help her much. She jumped into the hole, waving her wand as she fell. " _Arresto Momentum_!" Her falling was slowed and the light from her wand eventually showed a patch of Devil's Snare. Professor Sprout.

She dropped to the patch and moved as fast as she could out of the way before any of the plant's tendrils could grab her. She hoped the enchantments weren't all that easy, or Quirrel would be walking out with the Stone before she ever caught up with him. She made it to a room with a very high ceiling. Flying around at the top were several hundred small, brightly-colored birds. She walked over to the door on the far side of the room and looked at it. It was locked. She looked up at the birds, knowing that they must be the key to the door enchantment. As one fluttered low, she saw they were literal keys and sighed. There were hundreds of keys up there, it would take forever to get up there and- 

"That one!" She whispered to herself, noticing a huge silver key with bright blue wings, flying a bit lopsided because its feathers were crumpled on the left. She saw several broomsticks leaning against the wall, but she didn't wanna get on a broom, so she pulled her wand out and pointed it at the key. " _Aqua Eructo_!" A blast of water hit the key, soaking its feathers through. " _Glacius_!" She called out next, and the sodden key fell to the ground in a block of ice, which cracked. She did the Hot-Air Charm to get the key out of the ice and unlocked the door.

The next room was a giant chessboard and she chuckled. Her parents had made sure she knew how to play, had made her study Bobby Fischer's games and strategies. She just hoped that whoever set the white pieces wasn't as good as she was. She walked up to the queen and tapped it. "I'll take your spot, thanks."

50 moves later, there were only 8 pieces on the board, 4 of each color. This must've been Professor McGonagall's enchantment. She was definitely playing a good game. Unfortunately for the Professor, Callie was only 5 moves away from Mate. She sighed in relief as the white king threw his crown at her feet and the rest of the pieces bowed to her, leaving the next door clear. She rushed through it and was met with a terrible smell. A troll was knocked out on the floor. Quirrel's addition. She covered her nose with her robes and moved past it as fast as possible. The next room held a table with 7 bottles of different shapes and sizes lined up on a table. She stepped into the room and the two doorways, in and out of the room, were suddenly covered in flames, purple behind her and black to the front. She stepped up to the table and picked up the scroll lying next to the bottles. She recognized Severus Snape's messy handwriting immediately.

**_Danger lies before you, while safety lies behind,_ **

**_Two of us will help you, whichever you would find,_ **

**_One among us seven will let you move ahead,_ **

**_Another will transport the drinker back instead,_ **

**_Two among our number hold only nettle wine,_ **

**_Three of us are killers, waiting hidden in line._ **

**_Choose, unless you wish to stay here forevermore,_ **

**_To help you in your choice, we give you these clues four:_ **

**_First, however slyly the poison tries to hide_ **

**_You will always find some on nettle wine's left side;_ **

**_Second, different are those who stand at either end,_ **

**_But if you would move onward, neither is your friend;_ **

**_Third, as you see clearly, all are different size,_ **

**_Neither dwarf nor giant holds death in their insides;_ **

**_Fourth, the second left and the second on the right_ **

**_Are twins once you taste them, though different at first sight._ **

"Well. Who knew Snape was a bloody poet?" She pondered to herself, before reading over the clues again. "Okay, so... not poison." She said, pushing two bottles backward. She leaned forward and smelled each bottle. "Nettle wine. Nettle wine. So, this and this are poison and this will take me forward." She concluded, picking up the smallest bottle. She drank it down and shivered. It felt like ice was flowing through her veins. She walked through the black flames and was on the other side, in the last chamber. Quirrel was staring at a large mirror. 

"You moved quickly through those enchantments. You're a prodigy, just like your father was." Quirrel said, not looking away from the mirror.

"You mean like my mother. I'm nothing like Voldemort."

"I don't know about that. Headstrong, powerful, full of rage, Slytherin."

"Like I said, my mum!" 

"What do you think you're going to do here, little girl?" Quirrel asked, turning to her. "You're a child."

"You're not going to touch me. Your master wouldn't like that very much."

"My master? What do you think you know about my master?"

"I know I saw Voldemort in the Forbidden Forest. I know somewhere in this room is the means to bring him back to full strength and I know you're here risking everything you have to get it. It'd take an idiot to not put those pieces together."

"Your friend Harry Potter hasn't put those pieces together."

"Well, he's been blinded by his friends' theories, but I've known you were up to something.  _Proof_ or not."

"And what will you do when he walks through that door? Assuming that he survives this far. I know he's on his way, as well."

"He'll make it. Hagrid will have told them how to get past the dog. Hermione will get them out of the Devil's Snare and past the potions. Ron is only really good at one thing and that's chess. They'll get past the troll same as I did and Harry definitely flew up to catch the bloody key. They're probably right behind me and, you know what? I bet he can take you." She chuckled. "He defeated your master as a baby! You'll be no trouble. Of course, if he walks in here and sees us together, he'll assume exactly as he did with me and Snape... so, I think I'll just hide and watch him take you down." 

She was right, Harry was right behind her and he was positively shocked to see Quirrel and even more shocked that Snape hadn't had a thing to do with it. "But Snape tried to kill me!"

"No, no, no.  _I_  tried to kill you. Your friend Miss Granger accidentally knocked me over as she rushed to set fire to Snape at that Quidditch match. She broke my eye contact with you. Another few seconds and I'd have got you off that broom. I'd have managed it before then if Snape hadn't been muttering a countercurse trying to save you."

"Snape was trying to  _save_  me?"

"Of course. Why do you think he wanted to referee your next match? He was trying to make sure I didn't do it again. Funny, really... he needn't have bothered. I couldn't do anything with Dumbledore watching. All the other teachers thought Snape was trying to stop Gryffindor from winning, he  _did_  make himself unpopular... and what a waste of time, when after all that, I'm going to kill you tonight."

Quirrel used the Incarcerous spell non-verbally to bind Harry. "I saw you and Snape in the forest." Harry blurted out as Quirrel turned to examine the mirror.

"Yes. He was on to me by that time, trying to find out how far I'd got. He suspected me all along, likely set on my trail by dear Calidara after she followed me on Halloween. Tried to frighten me- as though he could, when I had Lord Voldemort on my side." He walked in front and looked into the mirror. "I see the Stone... I'm presenting it to my master... but where is it?"

"But Snape always seemed to hate me so much."

"Oh, he does, heavens, yes. He was at Hogwarts with your father, didn't you know? They loathed each other. But he never wanted you  _dead_. And did you honestly think Calidara, who was raised by two of the most sickeningly good Muggles her mother could have found, would have any part in this?"

"But I heard you a few days ago, sobbing- I thought Snape was threatening you..."

"Sometimes, I find it hard to follow my master's instructions. He is a great wizard and I am weak."

"You mean he was there in the classroom with you?"

"He is with me wherever I go." 

Callie didn't understand how true that statement was until a few moments later when Quirrel unraveled his turban to reveal her father's face on the back of his head. Harry yelled as Voldemort tried to say his parents had died cowards and Voldemort conceded that they had, indeed, died brave and defending him. Harry jumped toward the door, but Quirrel grabbed him... for a moment anyway. He hunched over in pain, looking at his fingers, which were blistering before their eyes. Voldemort screamed 'Seize him!' and Quirrel tried again, but his hands couldn't take the pain and Harry used his grand instincts to reach up and grab the man's face, and then it was over. Quirrel died with Voldemort screaming at him to kill Harry and Dumbledore rushed in with McGonagall behind him.

Dumbledore picked up the Stone as McGonagall picked up Harry's unconscious body and rushed him to the hospital wing. He looked down at the red stone. "You can come out now, Miss Malfoy."

She bit her lip as she moved out of the shadows. "How did you know I was there, Headmaster?"

"When you get to be my age, dear, you learn to predict other peoples' actions and intentions a bit more than those younger than you. A good thing for you, as I know that you had nothing to do with this. You were trying to stop him, weren't you?"

"Yes, sir, but I knew that Harry was almost here and if he walked in on me using any sort of destructive spell on Quirrel, he'd think the worst... worse than he was already thinking."

Dumbledore kneeled down, his long beard touching the floor of the chamber. "It is a most unfortunate circumstance that people are often judged by the sins of their fathers, Calidara, and even more unfortunate that your father had so many sins by which people will judge  _you_. You will never cease to Voldemort's daughter and that will always color peoples' expectations of you." Callie looked down, sadly. "I see you for what, I imagine, is your true self; a clever, powerful young woman who wants to prove herself but also just wants to be liked. Someone who knows what is right and what is wrong and who has no trouble risking herself to make sure the wrong does not triumph. I see your mother in you." Callie's eyes lept to Dumbledore's. "So, I will be as completely clear as I can manage for you. No one must know you were here, Calidara. They will assume as Harry did and worse. Trust, in your life, will be very hard-won and the world does not trust you. You must tell no one that you were here. Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir. I understand."

"You did an amazing thing, passing all those enchantments on your own."

"An amazing thing no one will know about."

"Come now. Let us find a way to sneak you out without anyone noticing."

~~

Harry walked up to her in the Great Hall the morning after he got out of the hospital, as she drank her tea. "Hey, Callie."

"Well, if it isn't 'The Boy Who Lived Again'." She replied, a bit snottily.

Harry turned a nice shade of pink. "Can-can we talk?" Calidara looked over at Draco, then stood, walking away from the tables to stand impatiently by the entrance. "I wanted to apologize. I know I've been a poor friend lately, with the stress from exams and worrying about the Stone and Voldemort-"

"Thinking I had something to do with it." She finished for him.

"How did you-"

"I've known since before Christmas. Heard you in the library with Hermione and Ron. You know, you're supposed to be my friend, Harry. We're supposed to be navigating this crazy new world together and you didn't even ask me. you didn't talk to me. You didn't say 'You're spending a lot of time with Snape and I think he's evil so you must be, too.'. You didn't say a word!"

"I know. I'm sorry."

"You should've come to me. I knew it was Quirrel the whole time!"

"I know. He said you followed him on Halloween. It's why he took those points from Slytherin. How can I fix this?"

"Harry, you literally thought I was evil, first plotting to get rich off of the Philosopher's Stone then planning to bring my horrible father back with it. You think that's fixable?"

"I hope so."

She sighed. "Not today, it's not. I'm mad at you."

"But maybe, you won't always be?"

"Maybe..."

"I can take a 'maybe'." Harry smiled, starting to walk away to his table.

"Oh, Harry?" He stopped and looked back at her. "I never want him back. There's a reason my mum hid me. I'm scared to death of what he might do to me if I were to reject him His own blood? He'd not just kill me, you know? He'd make me wish for death. If my father is involved, Harry, you can be certain I have nothing to do with it." Harry looked at the grave expression on her face, swallowed, then nodded.

Fred accused her, many times, of going through the trapdoor, but she denied it every time. She knew Fred trusted her, but Dumbledore had said  _no one_  could know she was there. So, even after the last feast (when she had to bitterly bite her tongue as Gryffindor was awarded almost 200 points for doing, as a group, what she'd succeeded in, alone) Callie didn't say anything.

"It's an outrage that Potter and his little friends were awarded so many points and you weren't given any for the same actions." Professor Snape growled after the feast.

"I'm sure I don't know what you mean."

"You expect me to believe you didn't go after Quirrel?"

"I expect you'll believe whatever you wish, sir, but if I  _were_  in that chamber when Harry defeated Voldemort again... people might wonder what his daughter was doing in that chamber with him and his lackey. They might think the worst because there's no proof I've done the right thing. It's better no one knows... if I were in that chamber."

Snape took a even breath, then nodded.

~~

As Calidara got on the Hogwarts express for the last time as a first year witch, she gave the castle a last look. Many terrible things were possible because of that building, but many great things lie in her path because of it. She was excited about those prospects. She smiled and got on the train.


End file.
